


Paint me in Trust

by Some_Cookie_Crumbz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Forbidden Romance, Galra!Keith, Warnings will be listed in notes at the start of each chapter, altean!pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2020-03-07 05:58:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18867142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Some_Cookie_Crumbz/pseuds/Some_Cookie_Crumbz
Summary: As a war begins to fester between the worlds of Altea and Daibazaal, a young Altean knight and Galran commander are forced to face the consequences of their secret romance. Consequences that will effect not only themselves, but also the life of their innocent child.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cautionary Warning: Mild Racism and Mistreatment/Abuse of a Pregnant Woman

She knew that he’d be mad that she hadn’t follow his instructions but she had to see him. She had stressed the urgency of the matter to him in her initial message, but between her attempts to maintain her own appearance in Allura’s court and his responsibilities as the head of the city guard, sneaking away took them far too many quintents to coordinate. She tugged her cloak more securely around herself, steeling herself in preparation for whatever was to come, knowing what could happen if she didn’t maintain her composure. If she didn’t stay calm, her camouflage would flicker out and she’d be in an even worse situation. There’d be no hiding her appearance and true identity at that point, which would lead to several unpleasant situations potentially playing out, which would only be exasperated by the scandal behind her presence.

She carefully ducked and weaved through the throngs of shoppers. While she’d never personally set foot on Daibazaal, she’d heard from those that came and went in the Castle of Lions about how busy their marketplaces tended to be. She peeked around, noticing guards stationed everywhere. It made sense that they would be swarming the place, considering what had transpired between them and Altea. The idea that Altea did not have something planned in retaliation or a delusion of them having any semblance of a breather for what they’d done would be naïve. It was wise of them to be prepared to expect anything.

Her arm was suddenly seized up and she jump, preparing to go for the small blade she kept hidden on herself, but paused in alarm at the guard holding her. “Acxa?” She breathed quietly.

The other woman’s golden eyes gleamed and narrowed slightly. “Random travel credential check. Follow me, please,” She said, keeping her tone as detached yet strict as ever. The woman was great at presenting an unfazed façade.

Without another word, she nodded and allowed herself to be led towards a small cluster of three-story buildings, all of them emblazoned with the black and purple royal insignia. They were the guard check stations, as she recalled. Acxa led her through the building, up both flights of stairs, and to the room at the end of the hallway. Even without looking at the placket beside the door, she knew it was his office. Acxa opened the door, guided her in, and then shut the door behind them. “Commander Yorak, I found this rogue figure wandering through the bazaar. They lack the usual badge of clearance that all outsiders are expected to wear. I brought them to you for a travel credential check, as per your orders,” Acxa recited, snapping into the Galran salute with a small click of her heels.

The other figure pushed up into a standing position from his desk and made some kind of gesture that caused Acxa to slacken her posture just the slightest bit. Most likely a reassurance that the room had been thoroughly checked to assure they were clear of bugs. “You realize that this is a _mistake_ , _right_? _What_ are you _doing here_?” He asked, his voice a snarl as he lifted his head to glare her down.

She flinched a bit as she reached for her hood, a bit stunned and hurt by his tone. She’d known that he’d be upset with her disobedience but she hadn’t expected this kind of callousness. “I know that you told me to meet you on the outskirts of the Twurew asteroid belt,” She said, taking a breath as she allowed her skin pigmentation to return to her natural peachy hue. She then carefully dropped the hood. “But you were late for the meeting and I couldn’t continue waiting around. I told you this was important, Keith.” She dropped the pretense of his Galra name to the name he told her he preferred, hoping that would help to ground him.

“Did you stop to consider there was,  _ perhaps _ , a  _ reason _ I was unable to arrive on time? As far as Altea is concerned, Emperor Zarkon has dealt a  _ devastating _ blow against the Altean people recently and a counter strike is  _ eminent _ . And wouldn’t it work just to his favor to find  _ you _ ,  _ Katinra Holt _ , the  _ ever-loyal knight of Princess Allura _ ,  _ milling about his own damned planet as if you belonged _ ? ” He sneered, walking around his desk to stand before her. He loomed over her by a decent amount of height, but she’d never been intimidated by him. Even now, with him glaring her down, his fangs bared and his ears tipped flat against his skull, she wasn’t afraid. She held his gaze and read him like a book, reading the anxiety and fear and relief he was pressing close to his breast under a guise of fury.

“Actually, she is  _ Queen Allura _ now; her coronation was about five quintants ago,” She corrected.

He growled lowly, his tail lashing from side to side like mad behind him. “Ah, _yes_! _Even better_! _The knight of the newly-appointed Queen of the people we are actively at war with_!” He barked, tone flippant.

“I would appreciate if you could watch your tone when addressing me,” She said, forcing herself to sound calm, “considering I am carrying your child.”

He recoiled from her at the words as if she’d burnt him, his eyes wide and wild. She forced herself to keep from reaching to him or letting her hurt over the reaction show. His eyes shifted from her, to her midriff, to various points around the room, as if struggling and grappling with the news. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected his reaction to be, but this panicked, horrified response certainly wasn’t it. Her stomach roiled violent, her own anxieties and apprehensions starting to eat away at her confidence. She shifted her stance, moving to wrap her arms around herself to try and find some kind of comfort.

His mind was whirling fasting than a supernova, though. He’d had the occasional, lofty thought of what life between he and Katie could be like after the war. They were mostly just fantasies built in his head, meant to whet his appetite until the day they could proudly be together, but they seemed so impossible now. Not with her people believing the blood of their king on the sword of his people’s leader. Not with his people’s leader actively furious and preparing for a war over the allegations her people’s leaders were throwing at him. He’d been unsure how to proceed with his relationship with Katie. The idea of being without her terrified him, but the thought of continuing their scandalous relationship and being caught terrified him even more. He knew what the Galra would do to her if they were found out, and he was almost certain it would be much the same on Altea.

And the thought of the horrors that could befall a child at this point? For as much as the idea of raising a family with the woman he loved sent a thrill through him, the bleakness of their situation near eclipsed it.

“Look, if this isn’t something you can handle, then I’ll go and you can pretend that I was never here! I’ll-!” She choked off when she felt a set of hands cup either side of her face, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

He still looked a bit unsure, but there was a small smile on his lips. “We’ve always been phenomenal about timing, haven’t we?” He breathed out, voice a bit shaky, but a sense of relief washing through her.

She could see happiness underneath all the concern and fear, which was more reassuring than it most likely should have. “It’s a gift for us, you know,” She teased, swallowing down a weight she hadn’t realized had lodged itself into her throat. Over the last three years of their secret courtship, it had become a recurring joke between the two of them.

They had met at a conference between their respective rulers, Emperor Zarkon and King Alfor, to discuss the situation regarding their shaky alliance so long ago it felt like a lifetime. At this meeting, the two of them took an interest in one another while the alliance completely fell apart and cold war of sorts started up. From there, between political battles over gaining allies for the potential of real combat, they met up to learn more about one another, slowly falling deeply in love with each other. Neither of them cared much about being Galran or Altean; they simply saw one another as they were and tumbled gracelessly for the souls they were.

Acxa cleared her throat, snapping the pair out of their moment and causing them to turn to face her. “While I am sorry to interrupt your moment, I fear we have bigger matters to handle. Specifically, in regards to your timing and how incredibly poor it actually  _ is _ ,” She commented, her tone revealing a bit of her concern. Acxa was the only other living soul within the guard that knew about the affair between the young Altean knight and Galran guard. This was due to her finding them together at one point and then, due to the history between she and Keith, agreeing to keep the secret for them.

Katie was never really able to express just how much she appreciated her discretion, but she truly did.

Keith hummed and nodded, letting one of his hands drop from the side of her face. “I have an idea that could work, but… Well, I doubt you’ll much like it,” He said, glancing down at Katie uneasily. She stared at him expectantly, curious as to what he was thinking. While she already had an idea of what she was and wasn’t uncomfortable with, she was at least willing to hear him out. “If we use Prince Lotor as a point of reference, we have a vague idea of what a half-Altean, half-Galran child can come to look like. Depending… If push came to shove… Acxa and I could raise the child.”

Katie had never jerked away from someone as quickly as she did at that suggestion, an icy sensation coursing through her and causing her heart to stop for a second. The look of confusion and hurt on Keith’s face barely even registered. “What?” She croaked out after a second.

He sighed slowly and looked down. “It’s… It’s the safest thing I can think of for the child, depending on if their Altean features are prominent or not. Commander Haxus has been pushing that Acxa and I become mates for so long I can’t recount, as they believe the children we could produce together would be good soldiers for the Empire to make use of,” He admitted quietly, glancing briefly at his associate. Galran customs, as she’d learned from Keith, were rather different than Altean ones. While commoners could marry whomever they wanted – so long as they were viable breeding partners – those in the higher ranks of their society were held to a different standard. They were expected to pair off based upon what was considered the best partner for the sake of producing offspring, and typically had to bend to the whims of their commanders and other superiors.

It hurt to know that he’d never voiced these concerns to her in their meet-ups since Haxus had started to voice the thought. It hurt even worse to know that his first thought wasn’t anything remotely like her own, and involved using her like some kind of personal incubator, involved refusing her the rights to mother and raise her own child.

She opened her mouth to tell him as much, but the female Galra chimed in a calm, “I won’t do it.” This seemed to startle Keith as he turned to look at her. Her gaze had softened a bit, glancing from Katie back to Keith. “Take a child from its mother and force it to live a lie? A lie that, if ever exposed, could have dire consequences for the child’s mental security, assuming they aren’t executed based solely on their heritage? No, Keith, I will have no part in anything of that sort. It would be unfair to both Katinra and the child.” She said.

Keith’s ears drooped a bit, panic starting to course through him even worse than before.

Katie reached up and tugged her hood back up, glancing briefly at Acxa. “Will you escort me out, please? I think that we are done here,” She said, her tone unnervingly despondent. Keith jerked to attention and reached out to grab her, but she side-stepped easily. She tilted her head up and briefly met his gaze, his words catching in his throat. Never before had he seen those eyes so vacant, so hollow, the usual bright spark of wit and mirth completely snuffed out. “You were right; coming here  _ was _ a mistake. I’m starting to think that it wasn’t the only mistake that I’ve made in recent times, but it’s the more glaring one right now. I guarantee that I shall not come intruding about your lands with my troubles again, Commander Yorak. Good day.”

Acxa glanced back at him briefly as Katie disappeared through the doorway, seeing the devastation etched into every line in his face, in the tilt of his ears, the stillness of his tail. A part of her wanted to offer him words of some kind – words that would do anything, really – but instead she approached his desk and pulled out one of the golden badges that were kept in the top drawer. They were special issue for confidential traveling guests. “Better safe than sorry,” She said, flashing it to him before tucking it into her pocket and heading to the door.

He blinked, briefly shaking out of his stupor, to give her a quick nod. “Thank you,” He breathed out after her.

Katinra was about halfway down the hall when she headed out, then quickly jogged up after her. “Wait!” She called.

The other flinched and whipped around, eyes sparking with a bit of anger. “I am  _ not _ staying any longer,” She hissed lowly.

Without a word, Acxa clasped the badge to the top left corner of her cloak, around her shoulder. She gave it a quick once over to assure it was even before stepping back. “It would be ill-advised for you to wander around without some form of traveler’s documentation or an escort. I’ll help you get back to your ship,” She explained before starting to guider were towards than hanger where all vehicles were kept.

She gave a brief salute to the guards poised at the entrance. “I have special orders from Commander Yorak to return this traveler to their ship,” She said evenly. The guards stole one quick glance at Katie, noticing the badge, then quickly returned the salute. One of them stepped aside while another headed over to the small control panel that would allow them to open the hanger hatch. She led the young Altean to one of the buggies waiting to the left while the hatch was being opened. The desert lands on the outer reaches of Daibazaal were easier to traverse using those than the hovering gliders of the big cities, and Acxa figured that it would be a better approach than leaving her to find her way back out alone.

“Thank you,” Katie mumbled once they were heading out, already plugging the coordinates for where she’d hidden her ship into the built-in GPS. “For this and what you said earlier.”

She glanced at her sideways before offering a nod. “I only spoke what I considered to be the truth. It was wrong of him to assume that either of us would be comfortable with such a plan,” She explained.

The rest of the ride was primarily quiet, though there were a few quiet sniffles from Katie, not that Acxa could blame her. She wished she could offer words of comfort, but she had a feeling anything she said would only be brushed off or deepen the cut in the moment. A part of her believed that after a few days, with some time apart to think and settle down, she and Keith would speak again and figure something out. It would most likely involve Keith undoing almost four years work of covert operations, but she figured that it’d be a small price to pay in his opinion. He’d always been the type to avoid focusing on the long term consequences of his decisions, as she’d learned over the years of working with him.

There was no ship where the coordinates led her to, but she still halted. “I’ve hidden the ship, but it isn’t far from here,” Katie explained, wiping at her eyes with the heel of one hand while the other moved to try and unclasp the badge, fingers shaking but still managing to loosen it.

Acxa held up one hand and gently pressed it back towards the other when she tried to offer it back. “I want you to keep it. These badges hold special privilege that might be able to help you, should you ever be travelling in a world with a Galran occupancy,” She explained.

The other’s amber eyes shifted from her face back down to the badge before she nodded. Acxa watched her walk away, waiting until she disappeared behind a large rock formation, before turn the buggie around and head back towards her post. Katie looked down at the badge as she pulled out the small, slim knight’s control pass to deactivate her ships cloaking mechanism. She dropped the door and walked into the small battle cruiser, pausing at one of the small storage cabinets where she kept food rations in case of an emergency. She’d modified the bottom of the lowest shelf to include a secret compartment, where she housed all the trinkets and things Keith had given over their courtship.

She’d most likely need to be rid of them all eventually, but a part of her ached at the thought. She dropped the badge on top of the other items, then carefully slipped the false panel back over them, stacked the small box of rations over it, and shut the cabinet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lady Holt, congratulations,” Commander Hira said, catching the younger woman’s arm as she darted past, “on being selected to attend the alliance conference.” She presented a small, white envelope to her with the golden insignia of the royal family on it.

Lady Holt’s eyes widened and she beamed, the little triangular marks beside her eyes beginning to glow with a faint green gleam. “Really?” She asked, taking the offered note and reaching back to pop off the wax seal.

Commander Hira chuckled a bit at her enthusiasm but dipped her head in agreement. “Your hard work has not gone unnoticed. It’s a smaller guard duty post – watching the door leading into the conference hall – but it is still positive momentum,” She explained.

“ _Just_ a guard post? This is going to be my first chance to get off planet for an assignment! This is _so much more_ than that!” She insisted eagerly, glancing up at the scarlet haired soldier and then back to skim through the specifics of her station. Hira smiled wider and chuckled, delighted at the sheer glee on her understudy’s face. Lady Holt cocked her head a bit in surprise as she read through the full details. “I’ll be standing guard with a Galran soldier… So I suppose the expectation will be absolute silence, correct?” She asked, her attention returning to the other woman again, becoming serious and focused

Pride brimmed in the older woman’s eyes at how she snapped to business. “Silence may not be absolutely necessary, but caution should certainly be exercised. So long as you mention nothing about the state of affairs of Altea, light chatter should be fine,” She explained as the two began walking down the hall together. Soon enough the rookie and officially named knights would be called to meal time, so they headed in the direction of the mess hall on instinct. “Not like Galra are much for conversation to begin with. You have nothing to worry about, Katie.”

Katie hummed quietly in thought, her amber eyes turning to look at the note again. “I still can’t believe it. I mean, I  _ can _ , because I have the assignment paper right here, in my hands, with the official signature of King Alfor, but just… I never thought that I’d be selected for an assignment like this. Not given my family lineage,” She rambled.

“It is correct that your father and brother, Sir Holt Senior and Sir Holt Junior respectively, seemed rather hesitant about your assignment, but I simply reminded them that it was not their decision to make. They are alchemists and, while I respect what they do a great deal, they are not the ones monitoring your progress as a proper knight. I personally saw to it that you be included in this diplomatic mission,” She explained, her tone returning to the patient and clipped one she always used when issuing orders or calling out a battle drill.

She nodded, looking back down at the letter and feeling her heart rate pick up. “I’m just… I don’t want to mess this up,” She managed to choke out uneasily.

“Believe me when I say that you won’t, Katie. You’re one of – if not the – wisest and most skilled knights in the class, and you haven’t been training nearly as long as some of them. Just follow my advice and you will be just fine,”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She should have listened to her superior commander’s advice better, she surmised, as she leaned against the wall just outside of Allura’s royal court. She’d been trying to get in to request a private conference with Allura, but things were rather hectic in the castle. She had anticipated everything being busy since Allura’s official coronation, but it seemed there was something else going on. The day before, she’d received an official summons from Commander Hira for that afternoon, to discuss a private matter. She’d already had to put in a form requesting light duty with the knights officially, so she figured that was part of what they wanted to talk to her about. She planned to breach the subject of her pregnancy while she was in the meeting.

The idea of having to face the truth of her situation left her feeling as if she would be ill, anxiety and fear turning her stomach into some a roiling body of water ready to destroy whatever was in its path. She’d been unable to eat her meal the night before or that morning, simply prodding at it and moving it about to make it seem as if she’d had some. It was better than how she’d felt the whole flight back from Daibazaal, though, so she chalked it up to some sort of hollow victory.

It had been eight quintants since her last meeting with Keith and her realization that she would have to address this with Allura proper.

The feelings of emptiness that their conversation had filled her with still hadn’t dissipated completely, but were overshadowed a bit by the new unrest over confessing the full truth to her commanding officer and ruler, as well as the exact risk of what she would propose in exchange for mercy. She’d secretly destroyed the communication module they’d been using to coordinate their meetings after the first three days, her decision finalized for her by the lack of word from him. She had wanted to believe that his reaction that day had simply been from shock over the gravity of their situation. She had wanted to believe that he would reach out to her and announce his decision to find some way for them to stay together. She had hoped for a brazen declaration of undying love, of unwavering loyalty to both she and this child they had created. The bitterness of being denied anything at all hadn’t lingered more than a few minutes before being replaced with resolve.

She was a soldier first. And now, she would be fighting her greatest battle yet. Going it alone did nothing to quell her determination to succeed.

“Lady Holt,” The soldier at the door said, causing her to jump a bit in surprise. She glanced over at him, holding the door wide open for her, before nodding her head. She squared her shoulders, corrected her posture just the slightest bit, and marched in like the knight she was.

Inside the throne room, she was stunned to see the whole place aflutter with movement and excitement. The royal celebration planners were milling about to and fro, some taking measurements between pillars of the grand room, while others were speaking to a small congregation of chefs. Coran, Alfor’s most trusted advisor, Allura and Commander Hira were settled at the throne itself. Allura was poised on the edge of her throne seat, looking through something on her holo-pad, with the older woman right beside her, muttering softly to her, while Coran peered over as well and tried to chime in himself.

But, in the time since Alfor’s passing, Commander Hira staying close to the young queen’s side wasn’t uncommon.

“You requested my presence, Your Majesty?” Katie inquired, carefully side-stepping one of the planner’s as they darted by, holding up a clipboard and shouting something at two of the other’s that he was approaching. She watched with her head cocked, unable to hide her confusion, before quickly dropping into the expected one-kneed bow of a knight as she reached the summit of the throne. Anxiety whirled through her like a fierce summer storm. She couldn’t discuss her pregnancy with Hira and Allura with so many others around. She wanted it all handled quietly inside before it went public.

Allura paused in her musings and looked at her, eyes brightening at the sight of her. “Ah, Katie! As punctual as ever!” She said happily, passing the holopad over to Coran and moving to stand.

He looked a bit disgruntled. “Princes-!”

“She is your Queen, now, and you should address her as such,” Commander Hira cut in, not even bothering to cast a sideways glance at the older man. Katie stared at her superior in shock. While she’d known the other had her issues with how Coran presented himself, she certainly didn’t expect such flagrant disrespect.

Judging by the look on his face, he hadn’t expected it, either.

The young ruler paused and turned to look between the two. “While I appreciate your concerns regarding the conduct in my court, Commander, some patience should be granted. It has not even been two full movements since my coronation. I can see where old habits may still linger about,” She said. Then, she turned to Coran and offered him a small smile. “I am certain I can trust this decision to you.  Choose who you think is best.”

Coran stared at her for a moment before sighing and moving away. “If that is how you’d like this done, Your Highness. I shall wait in the hallway for now while you have your conference with Lady Holt,” He said softly. He cast a sorrowful glance over at Katie before he turned to head out of the room.

For as much as she wanted to press the matter, she opted against it, and turned her attention to her fast-approaching friend. She could see heavy bags and small red streaks along and under her eyes. She knit her brows in worry. “Allura, when was the last time you had a full night’s rest?”

“Oh, I’ve been a bit too busy, Katie. There are many things we must tend to here in the kingdom and need as much time as possible to take care of it all,” She said with a wave of one hand.

“I take it that this is part of why you sent for me?”

“Yes. Commander Hira and I are handling a majority of this whole business with the planners and such, but an extra set of hands would be needed. It would primarily be with overseeing training and drills throughout Hira’s absence in the movements leading up to the day, as well as assisting with deciding which knights would be stationed where and when on the day in question. So long as you feel comfortable doing such, of course,” She explained.

She tilted her head a bit. “And what event would we be preparing to guard? A diplomacy dinner or gala of some sort?”

“I’ll be getting married, actually. We need to make sure that defenses are up high for the event, just in case Zarkon tries to take advantage of the situation to try pulling something,” She said, her tone becoming cold and bitter a the mention of the Galran leader.

She balked at her. “You’re getting married? Don’t you think this might be a bad time to commit to something like this?”

The other blinked, blue eyes seeming a bit clearer for a moment. “Coran said the same thing when I told him,” She said softly.

“This is imperative to the morale of the country and stability of our alliances as a whole,” Commander Hira chimed in, walking over to join the younger two. She settled a reassuring hand on Allura’s shoulder before they both looked over at her.

“Indeed. You see, Commander Hira and I have been talking things through, and this is a necessary action to take. A war with Zarkon is inevitable; it’s just a matter of when it starts,” She said, perking up just the slightest bit. “You see, what the country needs is to be shown that we are just as strong as ever. In order to do this, a marriage and an heir would be a great show of high morale and confidence within myself! Thus, in the time between my marriage, conception and birth of a living heir, we’ll begin seeking out further information regarding the Galra and their plans. Hopefully we’ll be able to also work towards rallying larger numbers, as well, so that once we launch an attack, we can hit them hard and do hefty damage.”

“Allura,” She said, clenching and unclenching her hands by her sides, “doesn’t this seem  _ wrong _ ? You shouldn’t get married due to a sense of necessity or expectation; it should be something you decide to do out of care and affection for a partner that you’ve built something with. It should be something you think about with someone you’ve built something with, someone you trust with your vulnerabilities and share interests with. It should be… It should be something very special that you think about committing to with someone who you see a real and happy future with.” Katie’s heart gave a quick jolt at her words, trying to stuff down the flash of pain.

She’d thought that she had something like that with Keith.

Hira and Allura stared at her in surprise for a moment before exchanging glances. Then, with a small smile, the young ruler turned to look at her, reaching to take her hands gently. “Your concern is heartwarming, but a bit misguided. Not that I can blame you for that; you have been rather busy with assignments, so you were unaware that I’d recently been courted,” She hummed, squeezing her hands gently. “I am not going to be marrying some random young man or anything like that. Marriage wasn’t something we had planned to commit to so soon, but thankfully enough he understands the situation and why we must push our relationship to the next level.”

Katie blinked then slowly nodded. With how things had fallen leading up the hostilities between Altea and Daibazaal, it was often that the knights were being deployed to run friendly interference with planets that had been often considered allies to Altea. Pairing that with how her free moments had been primarily spent to meet up with Keith and Allura being needed at Alfor’s side so she could see how to handle situations such as the one that was unfurling, they hadn’t had much time to chat. A small part of her felt hurt to know her friend had found time to pursue a relationship without telling her, but she knew that she held just as much responsibility for it.

“I’m glad that you’ve found someone who cares about you and will support this, then. So, run the drills and training, and determine the guard schedule for the event when it occurs. If you need me to help with anything else to prepare for your wedding, please let me know,” Katie said, giving Allura’s hands a small squeeze in response.

She smiled and pulled her into a quick embrace, and part of Katie felt soothed by it. She missed getting to spend time with the other woman. She still remembered back when they’d been young girls, meeting once Katie’s father, Semal, was appointed to Alfor’s personal council, and how they quickly began exploring every inch of the castle. They were so small they could sneak into little crevices and discover all kinds of hidden compartments and such, as well as slip into the duct work and eavesdrop on council meetings. At least until one of the grates had given way and sent them tumbling down. Alfor and Semal had been furious with them but it hadn’t stopped them from continuing on with their explorations; they just got better at making sure they didn’t get caught.

She’d need to see about trying to make time to have tea with Allura again if they could between everything.

Commander Hira smiled and nodded. “Coran will escort you to my office and help you gather everything you’ll need. I’ve had a holopad prepared for you, that will grant you access to all the same files and reports I typically have. If you have any questions, though, do not hesitate to ask. I will be more than happy to help you,” She explained.

Katie gave a quick bow. “Of course. Thank you, both of you. I promise I will do my best for you,” She vowed, her eyes shifting back over to Allura again at the last part. With her promise made, she headed out of the room, keeping the posture expected of a knight as she did.

It hadn’t gone any where she’d expected it to, but she supposed she’d simply have to bide her time a little longer.

Coran, as he’d said before, was waiting by the doors in the hallway when she exited. He stared at her for a moment and she couldn’t help but notice how much older he looked, all of a sudden. He and King Alfor had been friends long before they worked together to keep Altea at peace, so she’d expected the death to be a hard blow for him. Something about how haunted he looked, though, had her concerned. “We should get along to business, correct?” He asked, glancing back down at the holopad in his hand and turning to walk away.

“Wait, Coran,” She said as she approached, holding one hand up to him, “are you alright?”

He stared at her for a moment before his shoulders sagged. He glanced over at the guard still holding the door for her then back at her. “I am fine. There is just… Quite a lot we need to tend to and not an exorbitant amount of time to do it in,” He said quietly.

She nodded and fell in step with him, allowing him to lead her down the halls. Once they were far enough away from the court room, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye again. “Allura told me you were concerned about the marriage as well,” She commented.

“I have many concerns!” He blurted out frantically. He reached up with one hand and ran it through his hair. “Commander Hira has been by her side ever since King Alfor’s death and barely given Allura time to grieve properly! I understand that she is needed to step up, but the council has been set up for a reason! We are here to oversee business for a short term, to continue on things in the way that Alfor would have wanted, so that _she can have_ _that time_ to _prepare herself_ to take over!”

“I thought her coronation was something that the council pushed for,” She said in surprise.

“No! Originally her  _ wedding date _ was supposed to be her  _ coronation date _ ! Allura herself pushed to have her coronation pushed up after conversations with Commander Hira! The wedding was another of Hira’s ideas, too,” He sighed and shook his head, glancing down at the holopad again sadly. “It feels like she’s trying to compensate for failing King Alfor. She was the personal chauffeur that went with him to Daibazaal that fateful day. And I can understand that there is a sense of guilt there, a sense that she needs to keep the state as a whole from being weakened by his loss. But this? All that she is doing? This isn’t the way to do.”

Katie nodded and glanced down at her hands. “All we can do is try to help her as we can. I’m sure that as she becomes more comfortable with her position and the marriage, she’ll start to see things from a more reasonable stance,” She said softly.

“At least her choice of a husband is a good one. He’ll be a good fit for her,” He said, sounding slightly less bitter.

“Who is it that she’s marrying?”

“Sir Lance of Meclanu. They’ve only been courting for a little under five phoebs, but he had received King Alfor’s blessing before ever pursuing her,” Coran said. A small, sad smile turned up on his lips. “The old customs of courtship have begun falling out of fashion with the younger crowd, but Lance respected King Alfor’s opinion. Taking that extra step… That really endeared him to the pair of them.”

A sad smile of her own found its way to her lips, remembering the young man from their earlier times in knight training. He’d been a bit of a braggart and a loud-mouth, but from what she’d seen, time had tempered him quite a bit. He climbed the ranks on his own merits and made his way to being a member of the royal guard. “I am glad… Lord Lance has always carried a torch for her. He will treat her and any children they have with the kind of love, respect, and care they deserve,” She said softly, biting her lip to keep tears of frustration from springing forth. She wished that things were different with Keith, that she could have that, too.

They made the rest of the trek to Commander Hira’s office in silence.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things in the castle had finally started to settle in the last two movements since the wedding. Due to this, she’d scheduled an appointment to speak with Allura about her situation. It had been almost two phoebs since her last communication with Keith, and things were getting harder for her. Between the responsibilities she’d taken on to assist with Allura and Lance’s marriage going as smoothly as possible and her responsibilities in getting the wedding ceremony planned out, she still hadn’t been able to talk to her or Commander Hira about her pregnancy. She also had the stress of trying to hide her slowly developing baby bump, which was an extreme difficulty with something like her knight’s armor.

With things finally calmed down, and the fact she wasn’t going to be able to keep the facade up much longer, she needed to get the truth out on the table.

The door to the court room opened and one of the guards stepped aside. “Lady Katinra Holt,” He said, dipping his head at her. She recognized him as Sir Finquel from her time interacting directly with the guards and other knights on a commander-esque position.

“Thank you,” She said, dipping her head politely as she scampered inside. She hovered by the door for a moment as she stared across the long, grand room to the figures poised in the two thrones and just beside it. She felt a bit of relief at seeing that they were the only ones in the room, excluding the two guards stationed at the doors. She wanted this to be a well-kept secret within the court, at least for now. She swallowed thickly and then forced herself to step forward, knowing that she had to move forward.

The three perked up the closer she got, their gazes soft and welcoming. Allura leaned over to whisper softly to Lance, giving the young king’s a hand a small pat. He seemed a bit confused before nodding and standing, allowing Commander Hira to escort him to the exit to the royal chambers just behind the thrones. A feeling of dread filled her at the other being excused.

Did they already suspect something was up?

She moved to bow but Allura was out of her seat and darting over, embracing her tightly before she could even bend her knee. “Oh, Katie, no need for formalities!”

She winced a bit at the tight embrace and gently patted the other’s back. Commander Hira chuckled as she watched them, her arms laced behind her back, returning to her previous post beside Allura’s throne. “This is quite a joyous occasion for you, after all,” She commented.

“I beg your pardon?” She asked as she was released from the hug. The silver haired woman left her hands on her shoulders, though, and squeezed reassuringly.

“We know all about your little secret!” Allura said happily.

Katie felt suddenly cold and had to fight back a full-body shudder. “W-What?” She wheezed out nervously.

“A pregnancy isn’t an easy thing to hide; especially for a knight in your position. I mean, the early morning nausea was suspicious, but once I started noticing how stiff and easily worn out you were getting, plus you requesting lighter duty, it wasn’t hard to put together,” Hira explained.

“We haven’t told anybody yet,” Allura said, as if that was what was causing Katie’s horror, “but we are incredibly happy for you. I always had a feeling there was something more going on between you and that young Jyori that you’ve been sparring with recently.”

“Hmm. I hadn’t considered him. I was thinking she’d be more inclined towards that young researcher she has escorted a few times,”

“Oh, you mean Sir Tuyultr? The one with dark blue hair, yes?”

“Ah, no, the other one. Auburn hair, always wearing protective goggles, smells like smoke and flame?”

“Oh! You mean Sir Qiuntarent! I suppose he also seems like he’d be good to our dear Katie. Lots of common ground and I’m sure the Holt’s would be thrilled,” She said thoughtfully.

However, her brain finally catching back up with what was happening, Katie stepped back and shook her head. “No! You’re both wrong! It’s none of them!” She declared. The two looked confused as she wrapped her arms around herself, her gaze fixated on the deep red of the carpet leading to the throne. “Th-That is to say… The father is not of Altean heritage.”

She glanced up briefly to see that the two were not far off from her. Commander Hira’s gaze had become something baleful, which she supposed made sense. As her superior, Hira would know exactly what kind of missions Katie had been primarily assigned to. Allura, however, blinked and shook her head, as if in disbelief. “One of the Olkari people, then, yes? You’ve always found their technological developments and culture deeply fascinating,”

“Allura,” She started to say quietly.

“She has had no mission even in the same galaxy as that planet in well over a deca-phoeb, Your Highness,” Hira said, the contempt and revulsion in her tone undisguised.

Katie winced at it and nodded. “Commander Hira is correct. The father is… He is of Galran background,” She finally admitted, her tongue feeling as if it had swollen in her throat and meant to asphyxiate her. A small part of her almost wished it would, if it would end this.

She could see the panic and betrayal creeping into the bright blue eyes of her dear friend. “No… Katie, you didn’t,” She choked out.

“ _ Traitor _ !” Commander Hira spat, moving to advance on Katie, murder in her eyes.

“I will acknowledge that I have been distrustful, but my relationship with this individual has yielded interesting insights to the political climate on Daibazaal. There are Galra defectors within the ranks, Galra citizens who are appalled by what Zarkon has done!” She argued, shifting away from Hira and trying to approach Allura.

The other, however, flinched back with a look of pure contempt on her face. “Don’t you _dare_ touch me! I cannot even stand to _look_ at you!” She snapped, her eyes squeezed shut tight. Her hands were clenched at her sides and a part of Katie wondered if her ruler would actually let her fists fly. “ _How_ could you do this? To lay with _the enemy_? After _everything they’ve done_! They have attacked innocent planets! They _killed my father_! You are supposed to be _my friend_ and you still chose to take a lover from the _other side of the war_?”

“He isn’t on the other side of the war! He is firmly against what Zarkon has done and still intends to do! He wants a sensible leader to step up and restore the peace they once knew! Please… If you search in the right places, you can find the growing faction of Galra against all of this! You can ally with them and-!”

“ _Enough_!” She bellowed, eyes snapping wide and brimming over with tears. She shook her head and squared her shoulders, taking a deep breath. “This… I _will not_ continue to listen to _any_ of _this_. You will be kept down below in the dungeon until I am ready to deal with you again. Think carefully in that time about what you should like your future to look like, and if the bastard child you carry is worth risking it all.” Without another word, she turned and stormed out, heading towards the double doors at the opposite end of room, clearly making a retreat to her private quarters to try and clear her mind some.

She wanted to chase after her, but as her queen exited, two guards entered and rushed for her. She turned on her heels and started to make a beeline for the other doors, but was stopped when Commander Hira easily grabbed her arms, twisted, and brought her to her knees. It was a familiar tactic that Katie had implemented before in combat, specifically because the other Altean woman had taught her the skill. “To think I ever saw potential in miserable scum such as you,” Hira growled in a mix of disappointment and sorrow.

Katie shifted and tried to squirm free. “It doesn’t have to be like this! We can bring an end to this before it even begins! Before more lives than already are lost!” She argued, whipping her head around to try and face her better.

“This war was inevitable and necessary. New life must be breathed into Altea now, with new ideals and ways to handle conflict. And, in this new Altea, treacherous whores like you will be unneeded,” She scoffed. Once the guards reached her, Katie was cuffed and pulled back up on her feet. Hira regarded her coolly, the detachment in her gaze an unnerving one. “Execution should be what is done to you for this great shame. It’s the only reasonable solution to save the honor of the Royal Guard and your own family name. A simple execution, however, would be far too lenient for you.”

Katie held her gaze, her eyes crackling with the beginning of rebellion. She tried to tear herself free of the guards but they gripped her tighter, using enough force that she was sure she’d be bruised. “So then you intend to whisper dreams of torture and agony to Queen Allura? To sway her into doing what you want?” Katie would have laughed if she were in a better position. “You are naïve if you think such tactics will work on her. She is far too intelligent and independent to be so easily tricked.”

Hira’s lips twitched like she wanted to smile but she kept the blank scowl in place. “I never said that. You have been trained well in combat and how to escape a situation, and you aren’t heavily pregnant yet. A story about you escaping, fleeing to your battle cruiser, and then leaving the atmosphere would be easy to spin. Especially with witnesses to authorize the validity of it. Then all it takes is crashing the ship so that you are stranded. From there, nature will do the dirty work and our hands will be clean of you in every sense of the word. And you will truly suffer for the unforgivable sins you have committed,”

“How can you harbor so much hate? Be angry and disappointed all you like, but to have genuine hate for a child that hasn’t even been born yet is more horrendous than anything I have done,” She seethed.

The other’s hand reached out lightning fast and caught her chin, squeezing tight and keeping her head tilted just so. “That  _ monster _ you carry is an affront to the decency of Alteans and Galrans. The fact you brought this news to us yourself – that you returned to Altea  _ at all _ – is proof that the Galra is not invested in helping you. Even they see the disgrace you two have committed and intends to wash their hands of it,” She remarked, a cruel grin turning up on her lips at how Katie’s eyes widened. It was hard to mask the pain she felt at having her own suspicions voiced; after all, why else would Keith not have tried to reach her after she left, if not because he was ashamed? “I know you will find a way to survive for some time alone. You are resourceful and skilled in that way. But you will begin to struggle the longer you carry the weight of your mistake, the longer it grows inside of you. You won’t be able to deliver it safely once it comes. Not alone and without any kind of proper medical equipment, you won’t. And that is the punishment you deserve; to be trapped, alone, unable to do anything but lay and rot away as a result of your sin, with nothing but the cries of your atrocity echoing around you, and the knowledge that both of you shall suffer as you deserve in the end.”

And then, with a gentle pat to the cheek of the horrified young mother-to-be, she motioned the guards out, pulled out her communicator, and began to put the plan into motion, the protesting cries of Katie falling just short of her deaf ears.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith begins to struggle with his own feelings regarding the situation with Katie; ranging from guilt, to desire, to heartache.

The soft creak of his office door opening caused him to flinch, raising his head and trying to keep the hope from creeping through his facade. When the lone figure of his blue haired compatriot entering, his ears drooped and eyes turning in a glare at his hands folded on his desk. “We are going to be late for our debriefing with Thace if you do not get up,” she commented coolly.

“How far off was her ship from here?” he asked, his tone stern but not necessarily unkind.

“I did not see it personally, but it was a decent ways off,”

“So you didn’t see her get back to it?” he asked, eyes flashing with anger at the thought.

Her eyes narrowed at him. “I saw to it that she made it out of the city and to her ship safely, though I did not see the exact location or ship she traveled in,” she said evenly. She squared her shoulders and cleared her throat in preparation to speak again. “Though if you take such umbrage with how I handled her transportation, you are more than welcome to escort unexpected visitors yourself in the future. Though, that may not be the best approach, considering what seems to transpire when you personally escort unexpected visitors.”

That jab caused his ears to tip down and he averted his gaze. She wasn’t wrong, but he was far from appreciative of her rubbing salt into the wound. He slumped back against his chair and sighed, closing his eyes tightly, a wry smile turning up on his lips. “You’ve cut me deep, though I won’t say I didn’t earn it. Well played,” he said with a small, empty laugh.

Her eyes softened a bit on him and she sighed. “You are certainly a strange one, Keith,” she said, shaking her head.

He let out a small hum, glancing up at her briefly before looking down at his hands still folded on his desk. He thought back to how heartbroken Katie had looked when he suggested he and Acxa pass the child off as their own and he had to swallow down a bitter taste. “Acxa, how… how did she seem?” he asked softly.

“She was visibly upset; even more so than she was in front of you. I do not think she was anticipating your suggestion in the slightest. Not that I can blame her; even  _ I _ did not expect you to take an approach such as that,” she explained, slowly crossing her arms. He glanced up at her briefly but her expression was unreadable. “Though I can see you have already taken yourself to task regarding this, so I will spare you a full sermon.”

“What should I do, then? How can I guarantee that both she and the child will be safe?” he fretted, clenching his fists tighter.

She blinked slowly, parsing through his words meticulously, before she fixed her gaze on him. “I think that what you should do is stop and consider what will bring you genuine happiness,” she said evenly. “At the end of the day, the two things you want the most are diametrically opposed to one another. In dedicating yourself to the goals and intentions of the Blade, your own personal desires must be forsaken for the good of the mission. The choice of who you are to have children with, how those children are reared and raised… Those are sacrifices that you would have to make to assure your true intentions are never discovered. But, if your desire is to be with Lady Holt and raise the child, you would have to become an outcast to both Daibazaal and the Blade. To have that level of freedom, you would have to find a place where neither Altean nor Galran influence could affect you, which would mean your work for the Blade would be the sacrifice.”

He stared at her before letting his gaze shift down to the drawer of his desk, where he kept his luxite blade hidden. It was a sign of the trust the superior members of the organization had placed in him. It had been hand-crafted for him by the request of one of the most important of their superiors, a testament to how his loyalty to knowledge and spreading it was valued. A part of his stomach twisted at the thought of throwing it all away. What would the other Blades he’d trained beside think of him? Would his departure be seen as a betrayal that would paint a target on himself, Katinra and their soon-to-be-child?

His heart gave a painful lurch at the thought of her. The last thing he wanted was to put her or their child at risk. And, he realized, what if he walked away and she turned him away? He had hurt her with what he’d suggested. What if she felt he was an unsuitable partner and parent because of this? What little he knew of Altean family structures was that there was an expectation of equality and unity, which was a bit different than the traditions amongst Galra. For Galra, the maternal parent was typically the breadwinner, while the children were tended to by the paternal parent. Though Zarkon was currently working to alter the system so that children were raised in community homes by drones and a small cluster of actual Galra to help educate them. For a moment, his mind pulled up the few memories he had of spending time with his own mother and father.

He wanted nothing more than to make memories like that with his own child. But he may never have that chance now.

“These are things you will need to spend time thinking about on your own time, though. As of right now, there is nothing you can do as of right now and we need to get to the conference with Thace,” Acxa chimed in, cutting off his internal ramblings. He stared at her for a moment before she let out a small sigh. “I’ll drive the buggie to the location so that you can compose yourself. You’re mind is clearly elsewhere and you need to get it squared away before we arrive.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he muttered, slowly pushing himself up from his seat.

The whole ride to the meet-up location was silent, tense and awkward. A part of him felt like Acxa, despite refraining from tearing into him, had many more things to say. He told himself that he shouldn’t be surprised, really. She had forewarned him when this whole affair started that he should end it quickly, before their feelings for one another became too involved and affected their ability to work effectively in their respective positions. He couldn’t say that he necessarily regretted his decision to ignore her advice, but he certainly did regret his reaction.

When they arrived at the location, far off in the deserts from town, Thace looked between the two of them inquisitively. Evidently, Keith wasn’t keeping things together quite as well as he’d hoped. “Has something happened?” he asked calmly.

“We have received news that a good informant of ours is being relocated to another base, which will make things a bit more difficult in regards to gathering intel,” Acxa bluffed.

“Ah, you’re speaking of the heftier male, yes? Varkon, was it?” he asked as he led them over to a large stone a few feet behind them. When he reached it, he pulled out his luxite blade and held it at an angle toward the stone. The fading sunlight above them caught it at just the right angle to create a small, slim purple beam. Once it hit the stone, the stone began to quiver and shake backwards. After a moment, a small passage was revealed to them. "This would be his fourth relocation, wouldn't it?"

"Fifth, actually. You would think at some point he would understand that holding his tongue would be wise," she agreed as they started down along the passage. "Though I suppose Galra like him make our goals easier to accomplish."

Thace chuckled a bit. "I suppose that is one way of looking at it," he agreed. The small staircase was only about two floors before they reached a small, open space with another door. There was a black, rectangular screen beside the door that Keith knew was a sensor. The Blade was meticulous in having every possible shield in place, just in case word of their actions made it to a Empire-aligned Galra looking to garner Zarkon's praise. "Ulaz and I are hoping to keep things as brief as possible, so I do apologize if this was a lot of travel for a very short meeting."

Keith perked up at that. " _ Ulaz _ is here? For what purpose?"

The older male waved a hand. "We will discuss that once we are all inside," he said, lifting one hand and placing it against the scanner. A red laser scanned along his palm, specifically looking for the small encoded chip all Blades had implanted into the palm of their hands. It let out a small, satisfied chime before the doors lifted with a quiet hiss.

Inside, settled at a large, round conference table, was another Galra with white stripes along either side of his head, and a strip of silver hair sherred right down the center. His yellow eyes lacked pupils, as many others did, and narrowed slightly when they all entered. "You are late," he said flatly.

"It can be difficult to leave the bazaar," Keith said back, a bit of irritation creeping into his voice.

"Not for as long as it took the pair of you," he said back, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Acxa settled into a seat at the table, expression unchanged by the exchange. "We had other obligations to tend to prior to our departure. And you know how Commander Haxus can be,"

The older’s eyes narrowed a bit more before he shook his head. “Ugh, he is certainly an obnoxious one with his head way too far up his own tail end in thinking he knows what is right. Which is exactly why we need to relocate the both of you,” he said.

Acxa and Keith exchanged glances before looking over at him again. “You’re relocating both of us? But we’ve been gathering a decent amount of intelligence from our post in the bazaar,” Keith said, brow knit in confusion.

“Yes, but Haxus is being more adamant about the two of you being mated to one another. We can’t risk losing two of our best operatives because you’re being forced out of active duty for an extended period of time. We have matters of significantly greater importance than some squalling infant,” he answered.

Keith bristled at that. “Are you trying to imply that having children is beneath us?” he snapped angrily, his tail lashing in rage.

Ulaz blinked in surprise before sighing, averting his gaze. “That is far from what Ulaz meant. He should have been more considerate, considering your family lineage,” Thace chimed up as he settled in at the table. “Both you and your mother are valuable assets to the Blade, and we are lucky to have you both.”

He told himself to calm down, ears pressed against his skull, and crossed his arms over her chest. “So you’re relocating us so Haxus can’t force us to mate,” he said flatly.

He nodded. “Yes. Keith, we’ll be relocating you under Commander Sendak for a few months. Zarkon has assigned him on an alliance campaign, to rally other planets to fight alongside Zarkon when Altea officially wage the war. We will need to know which planets he successfully convinces, which planets are not, and hat resources each planet has brought with them or potentially could bring with them. We only intend to keep you with him for a few movements, given how frequently Sendak rotates around his personal staff, so make sure you are focused throughout your stint,” he explained evenly.

Keith opened his mouth to argue before stopping himself. Working under Sendak meant he’d be unable to reach out to Katie for quite some time. He had heard the rumors of what to expect from a tyrant like the commander he was assigned. But, he also knew better than to refuse. If he outright rejected the assignment, it would raise suspicion. And while Acxa had been good about keeping his secret this far, he wasn’t sure if she’d risk the potential punishments she could face from hiding the truth when directly confronted. He didn’t want to spit in the face of her kindness and place her in an uncomfortable situation such as that. So, without lifting his gaze from where he was glaring down a scuff mark on the table, he muttered a small, “Understood.”

That reaction seemed to suffice, as Ulaz turned his attention to Acxa. “As for you, Acxa, Prince Lotor has taken an interest in taking you on for his personal council of generals. This is quite ideal, considering our knowledge of his intentions has been limited.”

“Where has this interest come from?” she asked, her tone a mix of stunned and flattered.

“Most likely from that incident with the escaped prisoner three movements ago. He mentioned that he admired how quickly and efficiently you got them back into custody,” Thace commented.

She nodded, a small smile turning up on her lips. “Well, I’m glad to know this will work out in our favor. Is there any specific information you want me to look in to while I am assigned under him?”

“Anything will be helpful,” Ulaz said, “though there are some rumors that I’d like you to take extra time to look in to. There is speculation that, prior to King Alfor’s assassination, Lotor was courting Princess Allura. There is nothing concrete to confirm this, but I am certain you’ll be able to get some clarity for us. Specifically regarding if it is accurate and, if so, what his intentions with her were.”

She nodded. “Understood. When will we be placed in our new assignments?”

“In the next few quintants, if all goes well. Kolivan is assuring that the transfers will not seem suspicious to Haxus, as well as assuring we have at least one other Blade taking over your old post at the Bazaar,” Ulaz said calmly. The rest of the meeting went by in a vague blur, sharing with them the latest batch of plausible rumblings from the shopkeepers and their patrons.

As they left back to the ship, Keith stared out at the dunes all around them, feeling hopeless. He would be unable to reach out to Katie for quite some time due to all this. As if sensing his apprehension, Acxa glanced at him sideways. “If need be, I can try reaching out to Lady Holt as well. I doubt that Prince Lotor will be near as strict as Sendak, and you reaching out to me in your downtime will be significantly less suspicious,” she said gently.

He perked up to stare at her before managing a small smile. “I appreciate it, Acxa. Thank you,” he said quietly, turning his attention back out the window. He was going to miss getting to work with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say he was displeased with his current mission was an understatement.

“We need someone on the inside,” Kolivan had said evenly, “to let us know how the peace conferences are going. You, Keith, are one of the few Blade members we have stationed that has enough clout to be placed in a position where you can observe such information. We’ve already reached out to Thace and assured that he’ll be placing you on guard detail right outside the conference room. We doubt you’ll be able to hear anything from outside, but you can certainly place a recording device inside while doing your security check prior to the meeting commencing, and collect it following its conclusion.”

He had tried to argue about being given such a dull, sentry-based mission, but Kolivan had been uninterested in a debate about it. He’d been given his orders and the expectation that he would fall in line was placed. Already running on thin ice after his last mission had involved him having to detonate an explosion in the royal gardens to be rid of evidence of a recording device he’d been using, he decided to let it drop and begrudgingly do as he was instructed.

On the day in question, he had stood at one side of the door and politely inclined his head to the Altean royals as they followed Emperor Zarkon inside. King Alfor was surprisingly courteous, pausing briefly to thank Keith for his time, but his daughter, Princess Allura, slipped by without a single acknowledgement of his presence. An Altean commander of some sort briefly paused to speak to a smaller, female Altean decked out in full knight’s gear, side-eyeing him as she whispered to her understudy. The younger glanced briefly at Keith, gleaming amber eyes sizing him up without any fear or shame in being seen, before nodding at her superior and settling against the left wall just beside the doors.

Once the doors slid shut, the following varga filled with silence between he and the Altean guard. He let his eyes slid shut as he leaned against the wall, trying to keep from pulling at his ears. He  _ hated _ how dull sentry-based missions like this were. He was certain that the recordings his devices picked up would be interesting to look over later, but it was the large chunk of time until he could collect them that drove him up the wall. It didn’t help that the Altean guard posted opposite him was clearly uninterested in conversing or even acknowledging him.

Or, so he thought.

“My, quite the interesting blade you have. Made of luxite, from the looks of it,” her voice chimed, clearly impressed, and his eyes snapped open. He glanced over to see her still settled in her previous perch, but now she had his luxite blade in her hands. He at least appreciated that she was handling it with a generous amount care and delicacy.

“How did you-?” he gaped before growling and marching over to her. He swiped his blade back from her hand, making sure to be careful to not cut either of them but being rough enough to make appoint to her. “ _ Give me that back _ !”

She stared at him for a moment before letting out a hum, head tilting as her eyes switched from him to his blade inquisitively. “I thought the Galra didn’t like playing with luxite when making weaponry… Think that its adaptive nature is better suited for beginners than well-trained soldiers,”

“That’s a false rumor spread by _dullards_ who aren’t qualified or skilled enough to handle a luxite blade,” he scoffed, calmly scanning his eyes over his blade to assure no damage had been done to it. Even if she had been careful, he couldn’t be sure she hadn’t done some kind of strange Altean alchemic nonsense to it. Once he was reassured that it was just fine, he carefully slid it back into its holster. “In order for the luxite blade to gain the ability to shift forms, the user must be skilled with the blade, as well as have a good sense of self. Only certain Galran troops are allowed to own - let alone _actively_ _use_ \- a luxite blade.”

“I take it has something to do with the manner with which the blade is honed once the mineral is collected? Luxite isn’t known to have the sentience required for alteration levels of that high a level,” she commented, her tone curious but polite. It was strange, he thought, to see a younger Altean behaving in a civilized manner. In the few interactions he’d had up until that point, he was met with either outright hostility, passive aggressive snark, or being completely ignored. She, however, seemed to be genuinely interested in the processes and practicalities behind how they implemented the mineral.

He didn’t, however, feel like explaining things to her, regardless of how politely she approached.

“Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s your question to answer, not mine,“ He said with a small shrug.

Her eyes were gleaming bright in surprise, but then shifted into what he could only label as amusement. "Interesting response. So I take it you’re pretty high ranking to have one, then,” she mused evenly.

“That is a fair assessment,” he said with a nod, trying to keep the pride from his tone. The day he had received his luxite blade had been a huge honor. It felt like a sign that he had finally been accepted, finally been deemed worthy of the comradery of the other Blade members.

She pushed off the wall, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking one hip, sly smirk turned up on her lips. “So if you’re so skilled, then why are you stuck on something as dull as door detail? Shouldn’t you be out traversing the stars, sneaking about in enemy territory, doing the whole high-ranking spy nonsense?”

“If  _ you’re _ such a skilled Altean knight,” he hummed back, a smirk of his own turning up on his lips as he watched her, “then I could ask the same thing to you. Adding in the fact that I have never seen you before, I take it you’re actually a bit of a rookie.”

“I’ve been more needed on Altea due to my alchemic and technological abilities, but you shouldn’t question my field abilities,” she said with a dismissive wave, leaning back against the wall again. The smug look was still etched on her face, despite his light jab. “ _ Especially _ considering I managed to swipe your fancy little breakfast knife from you without you noticing right away.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. She was much livelier than most of the guards and knights that came gallivanting through Daibazaal’s capital. “Hmm. I suppose that’s fair. So how shall I address thee, oh small and curious one?”

“Everyone typically calls me Katie. It’s a little bit easier to say than the full thing,”

"Wish I could go that route. Outside of Daibazaal, the name Yorak doesn’t always roll off the tongue so easily.”

A little snorting giggle escaped her. “Your name is  _ Yorak _ ?”

He let himself relax a bit, falling into easy chatter with her. It mostly revolved around the differences in technological developments between their societies – focusing particularly upon the developments of technology developed for the sake of entertainment, though they briefly discussed medical discoveries as well – but it was nice. It was clear that the young woman was knowledgeable and passionate about technology, pestering him about a lot of the things that Galran inventors and scientists were working on.

In the end, the conversations he had with her were interesting and he didn’t feel the usual rush to check what information was recorded that he normally did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The memory of their first encounter seemed so long ago, when he stopped and thought about it. Back then, he’d been convinced that the situation between Daibazaal and Altea would be resolved rather quickly. Then he and the other members of the Blade of Marmora would be back to figuring out where the clogged cogs in the Galran royal family were, exactly, and repairing or replacing them. Before she’d left that night, though, he’d inquired about if there was a way he could reach her so they could keep talking. He’d convinced himself that it was because he could use a friend, someone outside of the Blade, who he could talk about softer subjects with.

Sometimes the espionage and corrupt political systems wore him down. Katie was bright and vivacious, stoking the flames in him just a bit again.

He hadn’t expected for the two of them to click, for her to become his safe place to fall. He hadn’t expected to fall head over tail for the small spitfire Altean; and, even more so, he’d never expected that his feelings would be reciprocated. He hadn’t expected that she’d be the only person outside of the Blade that he trusted with his real name. He hadn’t expected how his heart would flutter when she would speak that name, quiet and gentle and with so much affection, during their various meet-ups and private, intimate moments. He hadn’t expected how he would go out of his way to protect the privacy of their relationship, more for her sake than his own.

He hadn’t expected to spend nights and days praying to whatever higher powers there were that she was safe. He hadn’t expected to wonder what the world would be like if they could be together, what it would be like to walk the streets of Altea or Daibazaal with her openly. What would it be like to be together in an official way? Would he get to meet her family? And, if he did, would they all get along well? And what if they settled down, were married, had a family? Those thoughts burned inside him like a hot coal, filling him simultaneously with an agonizing yearning and painful acceptance of what could never be.

And then Katie had revealed she was pregnant. And he, in his fear, had reacted in the worst possible way.

He had tried to frantically reach her using their private communicators when he could find the time, but no signal would go through. It was not an easy feat with Sendak and his whole crew leering down at him. He had expected a certain amount of hostility from them, given he was not a purebred Galra like the lot of them, but they seemed to take his assignment there as a personal insult. At first he thought it was a problem with his communicator and tried to get into the signal with a different communicator. No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn’t find the channel or connect to her device. He even called in the favor from Acxa, but she turned up with just as much luck regarding it. He had only two options facing him to explain the situation he found himself in; either Katie had dismantled her communicator, thus disconnecting the signal itself, or someone else had dismantled it.

And that thought had sent him into a panic that it took all his power to reign in.

He was only soothed from the fear that something had happened when Queen Allura's wedding ceremony was broadcast across the universe and he saw her among the crowd. She was alive and safe, at the very least, so he took that to mean the Altean royal had been benevolent in her judgment over the pregnancy. Fury had coursed through him as he continued to watch the celebrations, however, and he watched Altean nobles try to court her. She danced with a few and he could see the hunger in their eyes as they pulled her in close, saw the discomfort and frustration in her own eyes when she put a more respectable amount of distance between them. It sparked a painful fury inside him.

His heart was hers, and it was the only one she would ever need. But, he realized, he needed to tell her as much.

“Keith, we  _ shouldn’t _ be here! If we get caught,  _ we’re dead _ !” His associate squeaked out anxiously, at least remembering to keep his volume under control as they shifted their way towards the high walls surrounding Queen Allura’s castle.

“Well, we just _won’t_ get caught then,” he answered evenly, looking around at the walls. They were almost at the side of the walls near the small tower that housed the knight’s barracks, where he was sure Katie was. She’d told him often enough how, despite her position and familial ties, she’d insisted on being treated the same as any other recruit into the royal guard. He could only hope that some of the excitement had died down in the time since the wedding ceremony was held that no guards would be nearby.

The other Galra behind him paused in his steps, the dark gold of his pupils tightening in and accenting the dark brown surrounding them. “You make it sound like that’s an  _ easy feat _ ! There are guards  _ everywhere _ ! Looking out for, who was it again? Oh, yeah!  _ Galra _ !  _ Which we are _ !” he rambled hysterically, the slim white antennae at the top of his forehead flailing about to help articulate his growing panic.

Keith growled and wheeled around, pressing one of his hands against the other's mouth to silence him. “ _ Frenzied shouting _ is more likely to catch their attention, Hunk,” he ground out quietly. He watched as his comrade’s antennae slowly drooped back down, resting along the near-black mane along his head before removing his hand. “Besides, they barely guard the area where the knight’s barracks are. Knights are specifically trained so that they don’t need to be guarded while sleeping, to assure defensive resources are focused primarily on the royal family.”

Hunk blinked then carefully pattered along after him, a small smile on his lips. “Wow, this Altean girl you cozied up to sure told you a lot. If I didn’t know you better than that, I might suspect the whole relationship was just a ruse to get information,” he said with a small chuckle. He stopped and wheeled around again, his ears tipping back and the tuft of fur at the end of his tail fluffing up. Immediately the other held up both sets of his hands, antennae beginning to quiver again. “I said if I  _ didn’t _ know you better! Don’t give me the stink eye!”

He let his ears tip up and his fur settle back some, his gaze flickering down to the grass beneath his boots. “It was _so much more_ than just some fling for intel or the fun of it,” he admitted, his voice barely above that of a whisper. His mind called to him with all the times Katie had asked him about the planet his father had hailed from, asked him about his childhood, and helped him to keep the memory of the world he was born on alive. He had appreciated that so much, how she seemed to sense his need of someone to let him feel and remember, and it was ultimately what caused him to fall. “It… _Katie_ means so much more to me than that. I just… I _need_ to see her and tell her that. Even if she doesn’t want to hear it… Even if she doesn’t want me getting involved with her and the baby… Even if she _never_ wants to see me again… I _need her to know_. I need her to know that _I love her so much more_ than I _ever_ said or let show.”

“Hey,” Hunk said softly, one large hand settling over his shoulder, “if this Katie girl is half the person you say she is, she’ll hear you out. I can’t guarantee she’ll want to get back together, but she’ll at least hear you out and know you’re speaking the truth.”

He blinked then offered a small smile, taking a deep breath and nodding. “Thanks, Hunk,” he croaked out, voice a bit warbled but warm with his sincerity. He took a second to recollect himself before looking back at the walls surrounding the castle. “Okay, if we head to the far eastern wall, we’ll be just out of sight of the security drones and relatively close to the knights barracks. There are a few bricks in the wall that Katie marked to help make it easier for her to sneak out for our meet-ups, so we should be able to take advantage of it ourselves.”

“Uh, are you sure they haven’t noticed and repaired the bricks already?”

“Even if they have, I have a general idea of the location. We can scale the wall there without any trouble, regardless of if I find the exact location she was using or not. Plus, the walls are just basic brick, so you don’t have to worry about anything zapping or burning or tracking you,” he explained, nodding his head as he resumed the trek over to the wall.

The other blinked then scowled. “You’re never going to let me live down that episode on Guque, are you?” he grumbled as he took up following him.

“Not on your life,” he chuckled before focusing back on the task at hand, the brief levity helping to ground him. They moved careful and quiet along the wall, being weary even without having to really worry. He looked around carefully, trying to find the brick with the cross marked into it. He smiled a bit when he spotted it, then looked up and around. There seemed to be no threat.

He turned to tell Hunk as much, but when he turned the other had already pressed three of his hands to the wall, his naturally sticky sweat holding fast, before offering his other bent arm towards Keith. He smirked and wrapped his hands around the others bicep, allowing himself to be towed along as he climbed up. Once they reached the top, Keith scrambled up on the top and helped his friend find his balance. After one more quick scan to assure that there was no sign of any security drones or guards, Keith hopped down and landed gracefully on his feet.

Hunk had to climb down himself, as his paternal race wasn’t known for being very coordinated jumpers, but what he lacked in skill there he more than made up for with his climbing skills. Once they were both on the ground, he rushed towards the tower just a few feet away. Katie’s was located closer to the top and farther back, as she tended to use her room like a research lab and started many a fire. He remembered she had told him that each knight’s room was decorated with their family’s official crest and he felt no concern. He knew that he would recognize the green and golden bird-like creature that adorned hers easily.

He went to carefully pick the lock for the main door when it was thrown open by an Altean woman with dark red hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Commander Hira,” he mumbled to himself, stepping back as she sized him up, recognizing her based on the rumors and tales Katie had told him. Her eyes slowly widened as she realized what, exactly, he was.

“ _ Galra _ !” she snarled, reaching to grab a device from her hip. Whether a weapon or a communicator, he wasn’t sure and didn’t intend to find out.

He held his hands up to her. “I just want to see Katie!” he insisted, speaking a bit louder than necessary to help illustrate the situation he was in. Hunk was just out of Hira’s sight, so he motioned with his tail, trying to articulate that the other head back to the ship. He could at least keep the Altean commander long enough for the other to get away. He didn’t want anyone else having to pay for his mistakes.

Hira paused, hand hovering above the device, her eyes slowly narrowing. “So you’re the father,” she sneered, turning her nose up at him.

“So she told you about us,” he breathed softly.

“Yes, she did, a few quintants ago. She told us of the bastard child she carries, or its heritage, and the reaction she received from the father. Oh, how  _ that _ cut her poor young heart to ribbons,” Hira said flatly, watching how he winced. His ears tipped down, shameful gaze falling to his boots, and she squared her shoulders. “She threw herself at Queen Allura’s feet, begged her to forgive her and spare the child. You are lucky our queen is so kind; after all your kind have done to us, that child should be removed before it can become just as vile a monster.”

Oh how he wanted to lift his head to look at her, eager at the news that they were spared. “Are they doing well? Katie and the child?” he asked meekly, swallowing hard. He left his hands up and open, resisting the instinctive urge to clench them into fists. He didn’t want to take action that could be perceived as menacing or aggressive. “I just… I don’t have to be involved with them. She doesn’t need to speak to me anymore, or even see me. I just want to know that they’re healthy and happy and safe.” He finally lifted his head at his words, just barely able to see her.

He knew he was being sized up, read like a book to determine the merit of his words, and he forced his walls to lay bear. He needed to be open, for the safety of Katie and the child. She slowly tilted her head back a bit. “Well… We’re keeping things tightly under wraps right now. However, perhaps you and I can come to some kind of… Exchange,” she drawled, cupping her chin with one hand in thought. He lifted his head fully and watched her, tapping her chin with her index finger before meeting his gaze. “If you will transfer me information about the Galra’s movements – which planets they are approaching for an alliance and which ones they are threatening if they do not comply – then I could perhaps transfer you information about Katie’s status throughout the duration of her pregnancy in exchange.”

“For the promise of their safety, I’ll give you whatever information I can give,” he said without a moment’s hesitation.

Hira chuckled a bit. “Let us determine the means of communication and exchange of information, then,”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trek back to their ship was quiet, but once they were safely inside, Hunk turned to look at him. “Keith… Do you  _ really _ think this is a good idea?” he asked.

Keith didn’t even look over at him as he booted up the navigation and control systems. “It’s the best option I have,” he snapped back.

“Yeah, but if one of the higher ups finds out-!”

“ _ None _ of the higher ups will find out if  _ you _ don’t say anything about it!” he snarled, slamming his fist down on the control panel and wheeling around to glare at the other. Hunk looks stunned and a bit hurt, his antennae drooping a bit, before averting his gaze and glaring slightly at his own hands on his armrests.

“They could  _ kill you _ if you get caught, and  _ then _ what will happen? If you  _ really _ think that this is how you can protect and be involved with them, then shouldn’t you stop to consider the risk of what could happen if you  _ did _ get caught? And don’t you think you should speak with  _ Katinra herself _ before making such a rash decision?” he mumbled softly.

Keith’s fist unclenched slightly. “This… This  _ is _ the best way I can guarantee their safety. This  _ is _ the closest I can get to them. It isn’t ideal, and it isn’t what I  _ want _ , but… It’s  _ all I can have _ .”

“But  _ you don’t know that _ ,” he answered back softly, a bit of fire in his words. “You didn’t even get the chance to talk to her yourself. How are you so sure she  _ wouldn’t  _ want you to be more involved? Or  _ at least _ open to speaking with you directly? If you don’t hear it from her directly, I don’t think the information is completely trustworthy.”

He shook his head, ears twisted back and pressing to his head. “I betrayed her trust and affection, Hunk. I  _ don’t deserve _ to ask for more than what I’m being offered by Commander Hira, and I may not even deserve  _ that _ ,” he admitted softly, staring down at his fist. To know what Katie had already gone through because of his insensitivity, he couldn’t forgive himself. How scared had she been, knowing she would have to approach Queen Allura, surely knowing the penalty for the actions she took? If he had been honest with her when she first told those movements back then this wouldn’t have happened.

But he had been far too fearful of the possibilities.

“I won’t speak to anyone about what you are doing,” Hunk said with a small sigh, “but I also want you to know I am worried. Something about this woman, Commander Hira… It doesn’t sit right with me.”

Keith bit his tongue in admitting that a small part of him felt that way, too, and instead focused on getting them out of the planet’s orbit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith beings his dealings with Commander Hira, against the better judgment of his fellow Blade operatives. Elsewhere, Katie struggles to cope with life and survival in isolation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cautionary Warning: Mild Racism, Mistreatment/Abuse of a Pregnant Woman, Minor Violence/ Gore.

When he first entered the place, his eyes swept the room. No Galra, as far as he could tell, though he did see an Altean guard, dressed to blend in and hide their heritage, standing off to the side. They were pretending to be engrossed in watching the impromptu bar fight taking place just outside the window. They were alone, but he knew that wasn’t her. No, in their communications she’d made it completely clear that she’d pick a table far from prying eyes; then again, she’d _also_ been adamant about them coming alone. Not that he could necessarily go casting stones on that front, since Hunk was loitering just outside the place, just in case.

He spotted her at the far end, masked well in shadow, sipping at a mug of presumably ale. He crossed the room to her, dipping his head before taking his seat.

She let out an amused hum as he settled in. “I’ll admit that I’m a bit shocked. I was near certain you’d been pulling my leg in the hopes that I would slip up,” she said.

“I would never use my feelings for Katie or our child as a rouse,” he said firmly. He took a moment to adjust himself more comfortably in the seat, noting that she’d darkened the tint of her skin to a green-grey hue, before continuing on. “As of current, I am stationed under Commander Sendak.”

“Sendak?” She asked with a hint of surprise. He nodded and she leaned forward, resting her chin atop her laced fingers. “He is an aggressive sort who tends to take similar approaches with his tactics, from what little interactions I’ve had with him.”

“You assessment is correct,” he said, pausing briefly when one of the tavern wretches inquired if he would like anything himself. They were on the planet of Illjet, a neutral planet with no interest in alienating either of their highest customer demographics, which was known for its many bars and vast marketplaces. He’d perused them once with Katie, sneaking away from their respective teams for some alone time. He’d bought her a hair clip forged from a mineral known to alleviate headaches. He was certain that if he closed his eyes, he could pull the way she’d looked at him, filled with delight and adoration, back to the front of his mind.

He politely waved them off to focus on the matter at hand. Hira, however, ordered him a drink of the “hard stuff” on her tab.

“Thank you,” he said once the tavern employee walked away. He was genuinely surprised that she would treat him, even to something as basic as cheap, gut-churning liquor.

She smirked at him, something that seemed just the slightest bit playful. “I’m only getting this for you because it’ll loosen some that tension out of you,” she said, gesturing to him with a wave of her own mug. His ears tipped down a bit and he avoided her eye. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed of, you know. You’re still rather young, so doing something as rebellious as exchanging information with a perceived enemy agent would be rather stressful for you. The drink will just help to wear some of that out of you.”

He glanced back up at her. “You say that as if you have experience with things similar to this,” he pointed out.

Her expression darkened for a moment, peering at him over the rim of her mug as she took another sip. She set the mug down and shook her head as his own was set before him. “Why don’t we get back on the topic at hand, shall we?” she pressed.

He chugged down half his mug in preparation for the exchange. “Zarkon has assigned Sendak to reaching out to the planets he feels would benefit the Empire in the conflict with Altea,” he explained. She seemed rather bemused by his referring to the Empire as such, but he paid it no mind. He was proud of his heritage, but not of what their current leader and Empire was engaged in. “Sendak has been using various means to gain allies; from bribes to brute force.” He rummaged through a small pouch on his belt before producing a small chip and sliding it over to her. “There is a list with the coordinates for his next five intended stops. There are also brief summations of what resources their planet could bring in to the Empire’s alliance.”

She hummed as she took it, slipping it on to her own person. “Excellent. This will be quite helpful,” she hummed. “As of current, Katinra is progressing safely with her pregnancy. She is keeping some secrets to herself, though she did confirm that she is carrying a boy.”

“A boy,” he repeated, a small puffing laugh coming out of him. He could feel a small smile turning up on his lips as his eyes swept down to the table top, giddiness swirling in his belly. She was safe and being well taken care of, even despite what had happened, and she was going to have a son. _Their son_. “Did she tell you what name she’s picked? I mean, if she has picked a name?”

“That’s one of the things that she is keeping to herself right now. If she does share that decision with us at a later point, though, I will update you,” Hira said evenly. She finished off her drink, left a few coins and jewels on the table for payment, and excused herself. “I will be in contact with you over the next movement. Assuming the information you have shared turns out to be reliable, I will schedule another meeting. Until then.” With that, she dipped her head and left. Her associate headed out as soon as Hira herself was out the door.

Keith took the time to finish his drink and bask in the delight of the little bit of news. What kind of name would Pidge pick, he wondered? Perhaps she would choose a family name, like naming him after her father or brother? Or perhaps name him after one of the many alchemists’ whose research she spent hours reading and elaborating on? A part of him wished he could talk to her about it but he knew better. What Commander Hira was offering him was already so much more than he deserved.

He headed back out to meet up with Hunk, who was clearly on the verge of a panic attack. He darted over and fell in line with him as they made their way back to their ship. “What took you so long? I saw that Altean woman come out, like, _half a varga ago_! And I overheard her say something to the other gu-!”

“Katie’s going to have a boy,” he cut in eagerly.

“W-What?” he asked, blinking in confusion.

“Our baby. Katie’s having a boy. _Our son_ ,” he said breathlessly, eyes wide and a bit glossy. “They’re both doing well. She’s healthy and he is healthy. I don’t know if she has any names picked out yet, but I’m sure whatever she picks will be perfect.”

Hunk blinked slowly, opening his mouth again and then pausing as his mind rolled over what he had heard the two Alteans say as they moved past him.

_“Commander Hira, should you really be telling these things to this Galra? I mean, he’s asking about an Altean guard of our court!”_

_“You are overreacting, Holt. I will only keep speaking with him as long as it is to our benefit. And he knows that, inevitably, this will all come to an end,”_

_“And how are you so sure he won’t come back here, seeking out whomever it is he is so fascinated with?”_

_“He won’t; the terms of our contract are clear,”_

His antenna drooped slightly at the thought, something about it all not making sense. His mind started shifting between options to present to the other, but he paused at seeing how excited his friend was over the news of his child. He had always liked and admired Keith because he felt that he was what he could never be. Keith was methodical, tactical and ruthless when it benefitted himself and his missions. There had been a few hiccups back in their youth where his concern for their comrades had gotten him in trouble and jeopardized mission objectives. But as they had gotten older, he’d gotten great at slipping his own objectives in along. And when there were failures and comrades were lost? Keith would seem to be as unaffected as the rest of the Blade, seemed to have finally learned to turn his emotions off.

Clearly that reading was completely wrong.

Hunked swallowed hard, wanting to ask why he was getting so excited. It wasn’t like he was going to get involved with raising the child. Hell, from the way it sounded, he would never even get to know the child’s name! And, if the child was spared any glaringly Galra attributes, he doubted that anyone would tell him of his paternal heritage. It would be as if Keith was never a part of Katie’s life. What was their to rejoice about?

But Keith was _so damn happy_ , just knowing they were both safe. Hunk forced on a small smile as he listened to the other talk excitedly about those two facts, speculating about this or that. A part of him swore that this whole deal would do more harm than good for the other, that he’d be heartbroken when the full weight of it came crashing down, but he wanted to believe that he’d be spared. A part of him didn’t want to feed in to the cynicism he’d gotten used to after seeing so many dirty dealings and having to have a hand in some of them himself.

But what kind of friend would he be if he didn’t speak up?

“You… Do you realize what you’re doing here?” he asked quietly coming to a stop just outside of town. Keith paused to look back at him, a half-smile still turned up on his lips. Hunk forced himself to hold the others inquisitive glance. “These are huge risks you’re taking for the rewards of… What, really? Just to know how things are going?”

The other bristled slightly, lips twisting down in a scowl. “It may not seem like much to you, but it’s all I can have!” he growled lowly.

“Okay, but why?” he retorted back, his tone almost flippant. “Because you’re with the Blade? They talk a big game, but really, they need any operatives they can get! It’s why they take back every operative that does something like this!”

Keith’s ears flattened and he looked away. “You wouldn’t understand,”

“No, you don’t get to pull that card on me!” Hunk snapped back, causing the other to jump at the genuine anger in his tone. “A romantic relationship with an Altean would certainly get you a pretty big scolding, but the Blade wouldn’t cast you aside outright! But _this_? Offering up information about the Empire’s movements that could potentially lead to _you_ or _other operatives_ being _discovered_? _That_ carries much greater consequences!”

“I don’t have the right to be with her or the child,” he breathed softly. His ears drooped in not anger but sorrow, fists clenching at his side. “I… I hurt Katie when I suggested she give the child to be and Acxa to raise. I was too afraid to tell her just how badly I wanted us to be a family, to build a home together. Because I know that’s impossible. And I know that I’m being selfish, but… I’ve given up so much for the benefit of the Blades’ prerogative. Am I not allowed to have this one thing?”

Hunk frown and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You need to make a choice, Keith. Either commit to being with her, or stop this. Because I’m not going to keep covering this up for you,” he warned.

“She won’t want to see me, so there is no being together!” he choked out, looking up at him pleadingly.

But he shook his head. “I don’t believe that. Do I think that she was upset with you at first? Absolutely, and she was right to be,” he said, grabbing the other’s shoulder and upper arm with one hand, “but… If she didn’t still have love in her heart for you, why would she decide to risk her honor and status by continuing to carry your child? Or why would she have been honest about everything with Queen Allura and Commander Hira? I mean, she could have lied and claimed that you attacked her and forced yourself on her. But, if she had taken that route, Commander Hira wouldn’t have even been open to this option in the first place. She had to have told them that there was more to this than just a fling.”

Keith stared up at him, eyes wide, before looking away again.

“I just… I think that if you talked to her then things could be resolved. But it’s your choice, and at the end of the day? We’re at war now, Keith, and you need to decide where you stand with all of this sooner rather than later,” he said, giving a reassuring squeeze before starting back towards the ship again.

He could only hope that some of what he’d said would get through to the other.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commander Hira’s plan was not necessarily the most practical of approaches, but it made sense. No, the older woman had been using this as a chance for a gleeful lesson in what perceived treachery deserved. The ship had been set on a course by the guards that had led her out, while Katie herself was strapped down to the pilot’s seat to await the inevitable, the guards trailing a ways off behind her. Once the right moment presented itself, they fired at her ship, clipping one of the engines and sending her into a tail-spin into the planet’s atmosphere.

She barely managed to break herself free of her binds in time to pull up on the throttle and twist, grinding the ship sideways into the ground upon impact and dragging. The ride had been a terrifying mix of too fast and too slow, with the ship slowing and rolling onto its good left side at the end. Almost the entire right side of the ship had been worn down due to velocity with which the crash had happened, leaving roughly 87 percent of it exposed. Above, she could see a bright, looming sun. She was still momentarily dazed and her mind fuzzy from the adrenaline coursing through her. She’d been tossed around quite a bit in the crash, with the center of her back and entire left leg having collided rather roughly with the main console and her left wrist getting tweaked at an uncomfortable angle while she struggled to stand straight and protect her stomach simultaneously. The pain in those spots trickled in gradually as she watched the sky, a small part of her wondering if the guards would come to just finish her off.

The longer she waited with nothing, she felt able to breath and just feel. Her whole body was shaking as she tried to swallow back the urge to sob, both hands gripping the console for dear life, when her mind called back up Commander Hira’s words.

_And that is the punishment you deserve; to be trapped, alone, unable to do anything but lay and rot away as a result of your sin, with nothing but the cries of your atrocity echoing around you, and the knowledge that both of you shall suffer as you deserve in the end._

Of course the guards hadn’t pursued her further; that would have been against their orders. Hira knew that she’d find a way to survive the crash and probably last a good long while on her own. She was banking on the idea of Katie struggling in the latter half, when her pregnancy became a huge hindrance to her self-sufficiency and her labor too daunting a task for her to handle all alone. After all, Katie was going to be a first time mom with only what she’d been taught in academy to go off of. And, even then, her mother had told her that each pregnancy brought with it drastic differences based simply on the various conditions surrounding the mother-to-be.

She squared her shoulders before starting to go through the supplies she had on hand. “She isn’t going to win,” she mumbled, pausing to press a hand to the slight swell of her belly. “You and I… We’re going to make it through this, somehow. I promise.”

But that was much easier said than done.

She spent the first quintant figuring out what kind of sunlight-moonlight ratio she was dealing with while tending to her injuries as best as she could and taking stock of what she had and what she was going to need. There was a sizeable bruise on back, taking up most of the area. It was most likely going to be extremely dark and tender once it finished reaching its full bloom, meaning she’d most likely need to sleep on her side for a while. Additionally, there countless bruises of various sizes and pressure on different spots of her leg. Hell, there was even a moderately sized gash just above her knee from where she’d clipped the pointed edge of one of the console panels that had been knocked loose during the whole thing. She cleaned and dressed that using the small first aid kit she had in her ship, as well as using some other items to put a makeshift splint on her wrist. She was almost certain she’d twisted the damn thing, but couldn’t go without using both hands.

She didn’t get an exact reading of how many vargas there were in the respective quintant and night cycles, but she did learn some important bits of information. First, she realized that the planet was a more desert-esque location. Her spot was surrounded by large, rolling dunes of sand, which would make traveling a bit of a headache. The sun was also a bit closer to the planet’s surface, which led to it being incredibly hot. If not for the material of her ship being adaptable and designed to compensate for various temperatures, in the case of the ship itself being left without power. While the inside was still a bit stuffy, she found that the areas that still had sparse covering from what remained to the right side were a bit more bearable due to the extra shade. Unfortunately, the most spacious shaded spot was literally across the cockpit from the shelves where her emergency gears were located.

She shook her head and told herself to look on the bright side. Because she had been so revered by Commander Hira, she’d been given a slightly upgraded combat ship that allowed for her to take charge with two subordinates at her side. She did a quick check of her supplies to find that, while she only had enough emergency rations for maybe two people, there was the bedding for three. She organized the three sets of pillows and blankets into a cot of sorts. It was far from the most comfortable sleeping space, but she’d also had worse.

The next observation she made was that there seemed to be significantly less time with sunlight than moonlight. That had been a relief of sorts, since the night hours were significantly cooler. The planet also had two moons, which offered a little bit of extra light at night. It was still hard to see, but the glow was similar to the max setting on her holopad, which made it manageable for her.

The next problem she found was that most of the life on this planet - as far as she could tell, anyway - was nocturnal. She’d felt panic course through her when, while trying to doze off for a brief nap, she’d heard a strange scratching noise at the front of the ship, near where the console was. She crawled over, staying pressed against the floor the whole way, to peer out through the cracked canopy glass. She could see four, glowing yellow eyes just over the very bottom of it. She immediately hit the deck again, startled by the sight, and stayed there for what had to be at least half a varga waiting for the creature to leave. It kept up with its scratching, which meant it had been trying to climb inside but was unable to. She reasoned it probably had to do with how smooth the designs of their ships were. Unlike many other races, Altean engineering allowed them to carve their ships out of a single slab of the material, meaning there were no grooves or indents to find purchase on.

She was up the rest of the night with a small dagger clutched to her chest and a laser gun with enough charge for three shots tucked under her pillow. When the sun was starting to break again, despite her exhaustion and anxiety, she clamored out to try and get a better sense of her surroundings. She found a watering hole a good ways off from the ship, which was a double-sided blade. On one hand, it was good that there was a water resource near her, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to reach it once she was further along. Hell, she realized that she would most likely be trapped inside the ship up until after the baby came once her mobility was restricted so much. On the plus side, though, she was able to discern tracks from animals along the path. If she could get the scanner in her ship working well enough, she could set traps to catch them, determine if the meat was edible, and use what limited spices she had to make jerky, which could last her out through the harder points.

It took her two quintants to get the scanner to work, but she managed to make it happen.

After that, she spent most of her time trying to see if she could get any of her other technology working. If she could get the general scanner up and running, she might be able to get specific coordinates for where she was. And, with that information, she could figure out if wherever she was on fell in regards to the war. If it was an Altean-aligned planet, she would be completely sunk. She doubted that her betrayal wouldn’t have been spoken about often. If they were a Galra-aligned planet, she should be able to camouflage herself long enough to get a little bit of help, or at least commandeer a ship to get to a safer spot. If it was a neutral planet, though, she might actually be able to get some real help.

And the worst case was that she be killed for either her relationship with Keith, her heritage as an Altean, or being seen as a threatening outsider.

She would typical nap in the hotter hours, when the temperature was the least bearable, since it guaranteed she’d be left alone. She wasn’t getting a lot of sleep, but the system worked well. She took any and all the time that she could to try and get something going for her. She counted the quintants to the best of her ability, balancing her time between hoarding supplies and losing herself in the repair work. If she kept her mind focused and her hands busy, she would spend less time wallowing in the gravity of the situation. So long as she was productive, she was certain that she’d find success. But then, after about a phoeb and a half, she got the scanner working well enough that it was able to pull up static, but nothing else.

Finally, after so long, she felt the panic course through her as she spent the whole quintant trying frantically to tinker it this way or that to get a real reading. But still, all she got was static.

She stared at the scanner, her whole body shaking, as the full weight of it all crashed down on her. She was getting visibly more pregnant, and she swore that sometimes she could feel the flutter of movement. Altean gestational periods were typically seven phoebs, which she knew she was fast approaching. She had no idea what to expect with a child that carried a mix of Altean and Galran heritage. Should she be anticipating a typical Altean gestational period, given she was the mother carrying the infant? Or should she be planning for it to be somewhere between the norm for Alteans and Galrans? She had heard that for Galra the time period was closer to eleven phoebs. But, there was also the fact that Keith wasn’t completely Galra. There was a whole other end of his heritage that she wasn’t sure if she needed to consider, too. In that moment, mind scrambling frantically with all the unknowns before her, she felt the weight of what it really meant to be all alone.

Of all the things that she had expected to bother her as she tried to figure her situation out, she didn’t think the loneliness would be what finally broke her.

Katie had always been comfortable with being and taking care of things alone. She did some of her best work alone, admittedly, so it wasn’t uncommon she be found as such. If she were honest, her interest in Keith was admittedly a surprise to herself. She had found him strange at first, a Galra soldier that was fun to poke and prod, but almost seemed to be begging someone to dig deeper. And as someone who had a passion for picking things apart, that had called to her. She never expected to find a genuinely sweet soul or dry wit just under the surface. She had to admit that it was fun, the longer they got to know one another. It was fun swapping stories about their respective travels and all the things they’d encountered, to ramble on for countless stints of time about all the fascinating differences between customs and cultures. It was thrilling to learn new combat techniques and share some of her own in turn. It was relaxing to have someone she could talk to without all the titles and expectations that came with them weighing her down. It had been comforting to have someone who understood what it felt like to have lost invaluable loved ones, how that pain never really went away, and how it was sometimes nice to just be able to hurt over it without judgment.

The ability to be completely herself, vulnerabilities and strengths and everything in between, was something she hadn’t really had with anyone else.

Her most common companion before him had always been Allura, since the other woman was one of the few who could keep up with her. Allura had always been just as independent as Katie, and knew when to make herself scarce and when to intervene. As children they had often gone on little secret missions through the corridors and halls of the Castle of Lions. More times than not they’d end up in trouble for being somewhere they shouldn’t have been. And, for all that time, Katie had always been grateful for the quiet comfort she found in the young princess. The two could sit in amiable silence, working on their respective projects, but still feel it just as rewards as having tea and pastries out on the veranda, chatting about the latest bit of gossip.

A small part of her wondered when things between herself and her friend had changed, as well as when the need to socialize became so strong.

She curled up on her mat and finally let herself break down, muffling her wails into her lumpy pillow to keep from attracting the attention of anything that might be outside. What was she going to do? How was she going to make it out of this alive? And what about her baby? How could she make sure they were healthy, or that they would survive during and after delivery? She pressed one hand against her stomach, where she’d felt the movements the most in the last few quintants. “I’m so, _so_ _sorry_ ,” she hiccuped, squeezing her eyes shut tight, stomach twisted into knots and her throat going dry.

She flopped over onto her back once she was all cried out, carefully rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. Laying on her back was incredibly uncomfortable, but she just needed to stare at something other than blacked out monitors and safety instruction for a bit. Watching the stars had always brought her a sense of comfort, and just staring already helped to soothe some of the hopelessness she felt. She needed to figure something out, regardless of the scanner working or not. 

As if the Ancients themselves could sense her anguish, there was a flicker of light over head, approaching from the east and heading west. She gasped and scrambled up, clamoring to sit atop the lip of her ships gaping hole. Even though she couldn’t name a specific design or race, she had known the light she saw had to be a ship of some sort. She watched as it moved across the sky before beginning to descend for landing far off in the distance. She could barely make it out from here, but there was a brief flicker of light from a tower, probably meant to be a beacon for the ship to follow.

Which meant that there had to be some amount of intelligent life on the planet. Furthermore, the fact that they had ships and landing facilities clearly meant they’d have the bare minimum for medical assistance as well. She didn’t have any flares or anything that she could use to call them to her location, though. Judging just on what she could see with her eyes, the place was at least a full quintant’s trek from her spot, maybe even two. It would be a huge risk, she thought, but it was one that she resolved she’d have to take. “Okay,” she said softly, glancing down at her belly as she moved to head back down, “Mommy’s got a plan, little one. We’re going to try and get some help. I promised you that we’d survive, and I meant it.” She smiled a bit at little nudge under her fingers before hunkering back down in the ship.

It was the best night’s sleep she got since her arrival.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon further contemplation, she decided to start her journey once the sun was setting. Leaving while the sun was out would be practical from the approach of their being significantly less creatures out and about, but she already knew that the heat would be unbearable. She would end up going through most, if not all, of her water supply before getting anywhere close to her destination, and that simply wouldn’t do. She decided, though, that leaving at sun down would be a good alternative. If she started to travel before there was anything alive and around, she might be able to get far enough that there’d be some coverage to protect her, if need be. She hadn’t ventured too far off from the ship once she’d found the watering hole, and caught smaller fare for meals by laying traps along her path. It made sense that any lifeforms would need hydration so it was the most logical approach.

And so, she’d spent a bit of time packing a bag for her travels before settling in to try and get another nap in.

As soon as the sun started to disappear against the horizon, Katie double-checked the small bag with the supplied to assure she had everything she might need. She had packed as much of her remaining food supply as she could inside, and what remained she’d scattered along the exterior and interior of her ship. She hoped that would keep any of the things she’d heard trying to slip in distracted while she made her way. She strapped her dagger and gun to her belt. While she had no intention of getting into a fight with anything out there, she still knew better than to go unprepared. She pulled one of her blankets up and over herself as well, deciding to turn it into a makeshift hooded cloak. The material was dark, which might help her blend in and avoid any hungry predators. She started to rummage through, seeking out anything she could use to help clasp the cloak into place over her.

She paused as she reached into one compartment, fingers brushing the cool metal of the confidante badge Keith had given her. She pulled it out and stared at it for a moment, heart lurching painfully. She had forgotten she’d kept it, but felt a bit of gratitude swell in her at Acxa’s foresight. She carefully latched it in place, making the cloak as tight as she could, and then climbed up to start her journey.

She started off in the direction of the lights with a purposeful stride, aiming for a pace that was neither quick enough to wear her out early on or put too small a distance between herself and the remains of her ship. As she headed over the first of the large, towering sand dunes, she turned to steal a glance back at the remains of her ship. A part of her was filled with dread. She knew that, with what she was doing, there was no going back. She had to hope that things would work out for her with whatever awaited her at her destination. She took a deep breath, gave her home for nearly two phoebs a salute, and carefully slid down the sands to the other side.

By the time she could see the first slivers of daylight peeking over the horizon, she could see the silhouette of the tower in the distance. Judging by distance, she was about halfway there from her perch. She groaned quietly and looked around frantically, seeking out some kind of shelter to take a break. There was a small formation of rocks perched at the top of a steeper dune that looked like it might work. She gritted her teeth and pushed along, her whole body starting to feel the ache from several vargas worth of walking. By the time she reached the formation, the sun was already out and she was sweating under her hood. The formation was a bit smaller than it had looked from where she’d been, tilted at a sideways angle and didn’t go in very deep, but it was clear of any other life and would work well enough. She settled in, getting as much of herself tucked into the shade as she could, chugged down one of the three water bottles she’d packed, and then tried to doze off for a short rest before starting back up.

She awoke some time later to a loud crash.

She nearly tumbled out of her perch but caught herself just before, peering out and looked around frantically. It wasn't in her immediate vacinity but a peer over the edge of the peak told her what she needed to know. Below, she could see a large serpent-like creature chasing a much smaller creature. The little thing was so small, in fact, she couldn’t make out any distinguishing features of it. She swallowed hard as she pulled the hood of her cloak back over her head, carefully creeping back out. The sun wasn’t setting yet, probably not even close to setting for at least another four varga, by her estimate. She watched as the serpent swiped at the smaller creature with its tail, the entire later half covered in large, jagged spikes.

_Don’t get involved, Katinra,_ a voice inside her screamed.

She swallowed hard, her hand twitching towards her lazer gun. The swipe narrowly missed the little form, but was followed up by another too quickly. From what she could see, it had caught one of their legs and sent them tumbling along the ground.

Katie pulled the gun free of her holster and fired before she could stop herself. The sound of the gun going off caused the snake to turn its attention to her and altered her shot. She’d been aiming for the side of its head, but instead it clipped one of its massive yellow eyes. It wretched back and let out a loud, furious hiss, violently thrashing in pain in the open air. She darted to the edge of the dune and waved at the small figure below. “Up here! Hurry!” she shouted, offering an arm out.

They stared for a tick before scrambling over to the start of the dune, their movements twitchy on their right side. Katie could see the sand behind them turning red from blood from their wound. The snake curled its head back in, retracting its spines and rubbing the underside of its tail against their wounded eye. Katie leaned as far over the side as she could while they climbed up. She spotted that they had a tail, which seemed to be nearly twice the size of their body, that was tensed above them. They were struggling to get up the sand dune, their bad leg constantly giving out on them. She stole a glance over and could see the snake, still quietly hissing, sticking its tongue out. It was trying to locate its prey based solely on the scent of blood, she realized with horror.

“I’m sorry!” she shouted before reaching out, grabbing the very end of their tail, and yanking upwards as hard as she could. She ended up having to dart away from the edge to get them all the way over, but once they were up she knelt beside them to get a better look.

Their fur was predominantly a familiar purple hue, but had large dark eyes with no pupils and surrounded by white fur. All the way down their tail there was an oval of black outlined with more white fur, with the tufted tip of their tail being pure black and the underside of the tail pure white. Their features were more rodent like, with a small snout, pink nose, long whiskers, and large ears. Their feet, however, were much larger and longer than she expected, seeming almost more feline and she could see the sizeable gash on the side of their right foot where the serpent’s tail spikes had clipped them. Katie didn’t need much else to tell her the little creature was some portion Galra in heritage. She gently touched their shoulder and they launched into her, burrowing into her.

It occurred to her, judging by their size and how fiercely they were shaking, that she was dealing with a child.

She jerked to attention when she spotted the snake starting to make its way up the dune, one good eye fixated on her. “Oh, quiznak,” she mumbled, trying to scramble away from the edge. She kept one arm wrapped around the child, keeping them pressed close. She darted back to her little retreat, knowing full well that it would chase them there, but that it was too big to get in. She pressed the child further and higher up, so that they’d be far out of reach, and tried to get the gun charged up for another shot.

But, the child was too scared, and immediately scuttled back down to press into Katie again.

She had to bite her tongue to keep from yelling at them about being a nuisance. They were just a child, after all, and this was a very frightening situation. Katie let out a startled cry when the damned serpent stuffed the end of its tail in, piercing her arm just below with one spike and dislodging her gun from her grip. Using its grip on her, it dragged her back out into the sun. She tried to wretch herself free, but it curled its tail around her, another spine slowly pressing into the back of her calf while several others applied just enough pressure to tease at breaking the skin.

She was startled when the child appeared from the mouth of the small hide away, shaking little hands clutching her laser gun and aiming at the beast. With the snake distracted, she fished out her dagger and drove it into an exposed fleshy strip that was normally hidden by its spines. It shrieked in agony, tail slackening and attempting to flatten its spines again. When they were down, she scrambled out of its grasp and over to the child. She knelt down and took the gun back from them, offering a small smile. “It’s gonna be okay,” she said softly.

When she turned back to the snake, it was frantically tearing at its own tail with its fangs. When it had called its spines back down, it had wedged her dagger even deeper down, and she was certain that must have stung. She took a stealing breath as she crept over, grateful that it was so distracted, and fired one last shot into its head.

It fell completely lax, a low hissing noise coming from its gaping mouth as its head rolled on to the dirt. Its spines released again and she could just barely make the hilt of her dagger out from the bloody mess that remained. She nudged it with the toe of her boot after a moment, just to be safe, before walking over and carefully pulling her dagger free again. She started cleaning it off with the edge of her cloak and contemplated shooting it one last time, just to make sure that it was actually dead, but opted against it. She needed to make sure that she held onto that last shot, just in case.

She slipped them both back into their places on her belt, returned to the hide away, and pulled the child in with her to treat their wounds. She didn’t have an exceptionally large variety, but she figured what little they had would suffice until they reached civilization. She took care of the child first and tried to get a reading on them. Judging the fact that the clothes they wore looked like a tunic style dress and were in a soft yellow tint, she was willing to wager she was dealing with a little girl, but also didn’t want to be presumptuous. She did find herself a bit concerned when she noticed a mechanical collar of some sort cinched around their neck. It had four different bulbs on it, but only the one farthest to the left was lit up. It was a slow, steadily blinking green.

It didn't seem to be bother the child, though, so she decided against trying to remove it. She figure of she could get them talking, they'd be willing to explain it to her themselves.

“My name is Katie. May I ask what your name is?” she tried as she wrapped their leg up, using several different languages in hopes of finding one they knew. They only stared and blinked at her in return each time. Could they not understand her? There were very few planets that didn’t use any of the common tongues across the galaxies, but she figured it made sense, in a way. Commander Hira had wanted to leave her somewhere that would give her no hope, so sending her to a planet where she could not reasonably communicate would work well to that end.

Once their wound was tended to, she made quick work of her own. She didn’t have enough medical supplies to do as much as she would have liked to with the large puncture wound on her arm, but it only reminded her that she needed to keep going. When she peered outside, she could see that the sun was still quite a way’s off from setting. “Well, it’s still far too hot to reasonably travel,” she sighed, glancing down at the child. As they seemed fond of, the second she was done with her work and had moved to settle back down more comfortably, they had cuddled up to her again. They then gently patted at the swell of her belly and looked up at her inquisitively. “Ah, yes, that’s my baby bump. I’m going to have a baby soon… But hopefully not too soon. We need to get somewhere safe first.” She sighed, carefully pulling them up a bit higher and closer. They nuzzled up just under her chin, letting out a little breath that seemed content. The exchange of heat was a bit uncomfortable, but she looped her arm around them regardless. She wanted to help them feel a little better, at the very least. “How does a nap sound to you?” she asked, more for her own sake than theirs.

As if they understood, huffed again and went lax in her arms.

She smiled as she watched them, their little nose twitching as they dreamt, and her fingers started gently stroking the fur along their head and neck. It felt rough and gritty, but not in a natural way. “You must have been out here for a little while, all alone,” she mumbled worriedly, fingers touching the cool metal of the collar. What could that possibly be for, she wondered. Was this child a test subject of some kind? She’d heard of such cruel, vile tactics being taken by various planets before but never actually encountered it herself.

She only dozed off for maybe a varga when the collar suddenly started to blink and beep violently.

She jolted to awareness as she looked down at the red, glaring light paired with the slightly distorted sound. It reminded her of the chimes back at the knight’s chambers on Altea, only this sound had an odd warbling effect that seemed to make it more irritating, like the sound device was damaged. She scowled and looked down at the child themselves, noting that they were breathing a bit more frantically. She gave them a gentle shake to rouse them, feeling a small burst of relief when they wrinkled their nose up and cracked their eyes. “Oh, thank the ancients,” she said softly. She took their regaining consciousness as a sign that there was at least a little bit of time for her to figure out something to help.

She opened her bag and pulled out another water bottle and bit of her rations. “Here, do you want something to drink? Or eat?” she asked, offering them the bottle.

They took the water and chugged down about half of it greedily, before sniffing cautiously at the rations she offered. She’d pulled out the dehydrated nuts and fruit slices still left over from her emergency rations, since she was willing to wager that half the child’s race was most likely herbivores. They took the offered pouch and munched at the food tentatively at first, but then with significantly more gusto once they realized it was safe. As they ate and sipped a bit more at the water, the siren noise cut off and the flashing switched over to the bulb beside it, blinking slower in an orange tint.

She reasoned it had to be some kind of health tracker. But then that came with a host of other concerns and troubles to consider. Was the collar there for her benefit, or for research monitoring? Could it be removed, or would doing so lead to dire consequences for the child? And could the collar be tracked remotely by whatever force it was that had put it there? She looked down at the child again, brow furrowing in concern. They seemed to understand what she was saying to some extent.

“Is that collar a good thing for you?” she asked, causing their large ears to twitch up and stare at her. Their little cheeks were puffed out from all the food they’d stuffed into their cheeks and Katie couldn’t help but laugh a bit. They wiped a couple crumbs from their face, swallowed hard to get the food down, then looked back up at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to repeat the question. “Is this,” she said, gently tapping the collar, “a good thing, or a bad thing?” Katie did a thumbs up paired with a nod at the word ‘good’ while she did a thumbs down and shake of her head with the word ‘no.’

When they nodded, she let out a contemplative hum. So they could understand her, but just lacked the ability to vocalize in return. That then raised the question of if the question monitored their health in general to articulate certain needs that they could not, or if there was more behind it than that. Such as to alert for something like necessary medication. “We need to get you back to where you’re from,” she mumbled, peering outside again. The sun was still up pretty high, all things considered, but she steeled her resolve. “Do you remember where you live?” she asked as she gathered her things again.

They nodded and started to try to wander out, but their injured leg gave out and they toppled over into the sand.

“Oh, come here,” she said worriedly, hurriedly closing her bag and tugging them over to herself. She hummed in thought, trying to figure out how to make it work. The child wasn’t exceptionally heavy. She could carry them on her hip, but she knew that would get uncomfortable and difficult far too quick with her pregnant stomach. She then glanced at her bag and her cloak, an idea cropping up in her mind. She grabbed the bottom ends of her cloak and cinched them in a tight knot just above her hips and below the distention of her belly. She then knelt down and indicated the open space left from her bag not being there. “Here, you can ride in here. But you have to hold the bag, okay?” she prompted.

They nodded and carefully scampered inside, their little tail sticking out and swaying out. Katie giggled as they poked their little head up over her shoulder, beaming at her. She handed them the bag through to open slot near her side and then stood up. It took her a second to get adjusted and, while it was still going to be a bit tedious, she hoped that it would at least be manageable. They adjusted themselves a bit, as well, to make moving easier for her.

With that, Katie pulled the hood back over her head and walked out into the harsh sunlight.

She headed over to the top of the dune, to see if they could get a better view. She peered around to see if she could see any civilizations or structures other than the tower she’d been aiming for, but there was nothing. “Is that where you live?” she asked, pointing at the far off shape.

They peered over her shoulder to see where she was pointing before nodding.

“Perfect, that’s where I was planning to go,” she said before readjusting to make sure the cloak ties were firm before starting the move down and forward. She prattled on a little more, enjoying how the child would nod or shake their head occasionally. After spending so long on her own, isolated from anyone else, it was nice to have company. A part of her wanted to ask how they’d gotten outside all alone, or how they’d been attacked by the snake, but she tried to keep it limited to smaller, shorter conversations while the sun was still up. The heat was exhausting and made every step feel like a battle. She had been planning to settle down for a bit just after sun down for another rest and some more food.

That, however, was cast aside when she was greeted by a four-soldier squad of Galra appearing from behind a large boulder to her left.

She would recognize the uniforms from a mile away, even in pitch darkness, and her heart leapt to her throat. Katie moved to rush aside, try and maybe duck out of their line of sight, but one of them turned their heads. “Hold it right there!” they shouted, lifting the blaster in their hands and pointing it at her.

She tensed before tentatively doing as they said. She could feel her whole body shaking. How could this happen _now_? “I’m not here to cause any trouble,” she choked out, hoping to resolve things peacefully.

“We’ll be the ones to decide that!” the soldier shouted back as the other three with them turned to point their blasters at her as well.

“Please,” she said softly, reaching for the edge of her hood, “I’m not a threat.”

“Stop moving!” Another of the soldiers suddenly snapped, cocking their blaster audibly. It was a warning, but she had to risk it.

With a gentle push, her hood fell aside. And, less than a second after that, a shot rang out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things come to a head for Keith's mentality as he continues to interact with Commander Hira and comes to some realizations about what he really wants for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cautionary Warning: Mistreatment/Abuse of a Pregnant Woman, Violence/ Gore, Buckets of Angst.

In the three phoebs following the first meeting, Keith met up with Commander Hira once every two movements. Sendak grew more furious by the day when their intended allies had already been approached by the Alteans. Due to this, Keith knew that soon enough there’d be a rotation of his followers. The Blades were unaware that he was the one leaking intel and already had a new operative ready to switch in as his replacement. Despite his statement that he wouldn’t cover for Keith any further, Hunk also didn’t go and outright confirm anything either. He was grateful to the other for his discretion.

But he intended to put an end to things soon enough.

He had requested another meeting with Commander Hira. In his pouch, he had compiled tons of Sendak’s battle plans to offer as collateral. It was more than she’d ever expressed a desire to have, but he felt that it would be an equal trade. He had been forced to think about what he was doing in the last two phoebs critically.

He was a hindrance to the Blade and what he was doing went against everything he’d been taught. At the same time, though, the idea of giving up on Katie and their son was something he couldn’t do, either. He’d never been able to have a proper family with his own parents and, despite how hopeless it seemed, he wanted that. He had always wanted a partner that understood, accepted and loved him, flaws and all, and he knew he had that with Katie. Hunk was right, he realized, and he knew now that it was time he stepped out of this war and stepped into the situation with Katie and their child.

His leg was bouncing from his perch at their usual table. He’d wanted to be there early this time in hopes that it would soothe some of his anxiety. His eyes would sweep over to the door fervently whenever it was opened, only to be disappointed when it was not her. After what seemed like an eternity, Hira walked in with her guard just a few paces behind her. She blinked in surprise at him as she settled into her seat. “Hopefully you have not been waiting long,” she said.

“Not at all. I’m grateful that you’ve agreed to meet me, since I did request this meeting rather abruptly,” he answered. Once she was seated he took a deep breath. “I’ve come to make a rather large request of you.”

“Oh?” she hummed, peering around to flag down a tavern worker. Her guard started to wander to over to his usual post at a dismissive wave from her.

“I want the chance to speak with Katinra myself about what has happened,” he said evenly.

Both Hira and her guard paused to stare at him before she glared. “That was never a part of our agreement,” she seethed lowly.

"How _dare_ you!" snarled her guard, reaching for the handle of the staff strapped to his back. Keith perked up and stared at the other, one ear twitching as he sized him up.

He could only see the others blazing golden-brown eyes out of the shadow of his hood, but it was enough for him. "You are Mattew," he said in quiet surprise.

"How does some filthy Galra like you know my name?" he snapped back.

"Mattew, that's _enough_! Return to your post!" Hira cut in, her tone clipped and firm. Her eyes, however, flashed in panic for a second, which sent an uncomfortable sensation to crawl up Keith's spine.

"Katie told me about you," Keith cut in, keeping his gaze on Mattew. His being involved was clearly distressing to Hira, which could play into his hand quite nicely. "You two have the same eyes."

The other pulled his staff out and slammed it down on the table hard. "Don't talk about _my_ _sister_ like you knew her!"

Keith bristled at the comment, tail lashing violently as he stood up as well and his hand went for his blade. He wouldn't actually use it on the Altean soldier, as he was sure stabbing her brother would far from endear him to Katie, but he would damn sure use it for self-defense if needed. "I know your sister quite well, actually," he seethed lowly.

"I gave you an order, Holt!" Hira bellowed, starting to move between the two of them.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Mattew barked before he sucked in a breath, horror taking over his face. It quickly switched over to pure, unadulterated hatred. "You _son of a bitch_ , you forced yourself on her, didn't you?"

"I would _never_ do something as _revolting_ as that to anyone, let alone her!" he roared back, pulling his luxite blade free and shifting it to its full form. Any thought of restraint was out the window. How _dare_ he say such a thing!

"And I know she'd _never_ allow a Galra like you to touch her! You _must_ have taken advantage of her!"

"You must not know her as well as you claim if you think _anyone_ could take advantage of her! She is far too clever and strong to be manipulated by _anyone_!" Keith quipped back, a sharp laugh mingling with a snarl. The mere thought was ludicrous! How someone proclaimed to be as smart as Mattew could think such a thing made him wonder if Altea really did pose any kind of threat if a war broke out. "And I promise you that she was a very… _enthusiastic participant_ when it came to our coupling."

With a furious howl, Mattew launched himself at Keith for that last comment.

He was ready for him when he charged, though he hadn't anticipated just how fast the other would be. He narrowly dodged the first two swipes, but takes a jab square on the cheek. He can feel it startling to swell the second he leaps back in an attempt to put more distance between them. Mattew is fast after him, though, and he knows he has to disarm the other. He leapt off the table, ready to bring his staff down hard, but Keith brought his blade up and crashed it hard into the staff, the force he used cutting part way through.

With a snarl, he tore the staff from the other's hand and sent it spinning behind them. It narrowly missed pegging another patron along the way. He then seized Mattew up by the collar of his cloak and slammed him into a nearby support beam, digging his blade against his cheek, hard enough to draw blood. He had brought it down to its small size, as he only intended to give a warning. "Let me impart to you something important; you can cast as much judgement against me as you like, but I _will not_ stand by and let you question the sincerity of my affection for Katinra and our child!"

"If she meant so much to you, then why weren't you there to _save her_? Why is my sister _dead_ \- by the hands of _your kind_ \- if you cared about her safety _so badly_?" he bellowed back, refusing to back down despite being pinned.

"Mattew, that's _enough_!" Commander Hira snapped, darting over to shove between them. It wasn't hard to do, considering Keith's grip had gone slack at the other's words.

"Katinra is… _dead_?" he breathed out shakily, taking a step back. He shook his head, mind unable to wrap around the idea. "No… no, she _can't_ be! Katie would never have given up on her life and our child! She begged for mercy! Commander Hira _told me_ -!" Keith cut himself off, eyes wide on the woman in question, as the world crumbled around him like a grotesque puzzle revealed.

Suddenly it all made so much horrific sense; the lack of names to provide, the miniscule details with each update, the refusal to allow him the chance to see Katie himself.

He should have known they'd never have let them live once she revealed her child's heritage.

"What have you been telling him, Commander? And how could you keep this from me, when it was about _my own sister_?" Mattew seethed, his scorn turning to his commanding officer.

"You're out of line, Mattew," she hissed quietly.

" _I'm_ out of line? You've been sneaking off to meet this Galra for _phoebs_ now! _That_ is a betrayal to Queen Allura herself!" he snapped back. He stepped forward, getting right up in her face. "You said my sister died on a secret assignment! Was _betrayed_ by her guide and _killed_ by Zarkon's men, you said!"

" _You_ should be _thanking_ me!" Hira shouted back, shoving him away from her roughly. He collided back into the pillar and winced a bit. "I gave her a hero's death, which was more than she deserved! She spread her legs for _that beast_ ," she said, pointing at Keith, "and created an _abomination_!"

Keith's ears twitch as he lifts his head, watching her with glowing eyes.

The look unnerved Mattew, at the brief catch of it he got, and forced himself to stay focused on the other Altean. "So you _killed_ her? By the ancients, you could just have easily _exiled_ her!"

"And let her treachery live on? Do you _forget_ what is at stake, Mattew?" she sneered. She scoffed and shook her head. "We are at war with a bunch of animalistic savages. To allow something that came from them to live on in any capacity would show weakness. You are young, Mattew, and have yet to realize that lofty ideals of honor and moral superiority are nice in theory, but useless in actual practices."

He moved to argue further, to defend his sister's good name, bit froze when he saw the Galra moving himself. A part of him shouted to do something, like jump in front of Hira, but he stayed rooted to his spot as small tremors overtook him. He had never seen such a bloodthirsty look on another beings face before.

Keith threw himself at Hira with such force and speed, blinking would have caused it to be missed. He wasn’t using words as he tore at the woman, slashing and hacking as violently as he could. He was running on instinct and nothing else, the edges of his vision black and the center of it pure crimson. He was aware that she was fighting back, felt the impact of her retaliating hits, but he didn’t feel any pain from them. All he felt was pure fury and the desire to make her hurt for what she’d done.

He only snapped back into himself when he felt arms tearing him off of her. He started thrashing immediately and felt his head connect hard with something. “ _Let me go_! _She has to pay_!” he shrieked.

“Keith, _calm down_!” Hunk’s voice startled him for a moment as he tried to pull him backwards. Blinking, Keith could now see the scene he’d caused in full light.

On the floor, a few feet away, was Commander Hira’s form, hunched as she struggled to get herself upright. The entire right side of her face was hemorrhaging blood, pouring down steadily. “ _My eye_! _My eye, you fucking savage!_ ” Her voice was a wail of fury and pain as she lifted her shaking and slashed left hand to cover the injury up. Looked like he may have severed a finger on that hand, too.

He stole a glance down and noticed something still stuck to his blade. He tried to reach to tear it off, but Hunk was holding fast to him. Instead, he lashed out with his blade a few times until it finally wiggled loose and rolled off under another table. A bar patron who saw the action shrieked in disgust and horror. “This isn't over, you _conniving bitch_! I will _destroy you_!” he roared furiously.

“ _Enough_!” Hunk hissed in his ear, snarling as he hoisted the other over his shoulder and tore off for the exit. He used one hand to bind his hands while the other grabbed his ankles to keep him from pulling free completely. He still tried to get away, dedicated to seeing the task through, but Hunk was at a better angle to keep him in place. He could hear bar patrons and staff hollering after them, but the other Blade didn't even acknowledge them as he got them outside. A crowd was starting to grow outside the tavern at the commotion from within, all eyes fixed on the two Galran soldiers as they shoved past. Hunk knew they must have been quite the spectacle, given his bleeding nose and Keith's blood soaked everything.

He hurried his steps to get them back to their ships as quickly as possible.

Once they arrived, he dropped the other to the ground and rummaged through his pocket to find a handkerchief. "What were you thinking, losing your mind like that?" Hunk snapped, wiping at his nose carefully. He still hissed in pain, noting to himself that it wasn't broken but it would be quite the shiner.

"Hira _lied_! All this time, she was lying about _everything_! She said Katie was safe, that our son was growing well! She said what she _knew_ I _wanted_ to hear! And _all this time_ , _all these meetings_ , _she knew_ Katie was… That Katie and the baby," Keith screeched, starting to move to get up but then slowing, his tirade tapering off with a harsh choke. Hunk blinked slowly, gears in his own head turning. He didn't need the other to say it out loud to know what he'd learned.

Hunk silently cursed his instincts for being right on the money. "Keith," he said softly, reaching out to the other.

He was a bit surprised when the other slumped against him, resting his against the other's shoulder. "She lied, Hunk. _She lied_ and _they're gone_ and I-! If I'd just _done something_ sooner, I could have _saved them_!" he choked, whole body shaking. He was trying so hard not to cry, he could feel it. He reached out and pulled him closer, giving him a quick squeeze. It took a moment before Keith lifted his arms and embraced him back, falling into a mess of hysterical sobs.

They stood there for a while, under the cover of night and trees, until Keith's cries died out. He slowly pushed back and moved to look at his own cruiser. "No, you're not going anywhere," Hunk said, intercepting the other as he started to pivot towards it. He pointed at his own ship, larger and bulkier than the other's. "You're way too emotional to be flying alone. I'll move your ship into mine, since I've been running with a cargo flyer and have room for it, while you go get cleaned up. We need to get you somewhere safe so we can figure out how to proceed with this before it gets to the higher ups."

"Let the higher ups find out. There's nothing they can do to punish me worse than this," he mumbled. He still, however, turned and disappeared inside the ship without another word.

Hunk sighed and turned to head for the ship, but froze when he heard footfalls fast approaching. He whipped around just in time to see the brown-haired Altean that had come with Commander Hira stumble into the small clearing. The two stared one another down before the Altean squared his shoulders and looked around. "Where did the other one go?" he asked gruffly.

"Just let us go, okay? Avenging your Commander isn't worth it. It's been a long day and I need to get him out of here," he said, holding both sets of hands up.

"I'm not going anywhere until he answers some questions I have. And if you're gonna get in my way? Well," he answered, feet shifting to take an offensive stance, "I guess I'll just have to move you myself."

Hunk's feelers shuddered upwards before drooping in his frustration, reaching up with one hand to massage the space between his eyes. Was he really going to try to do this right now? Hunk wasn't prone to bragging, but he was aware of the fact that he was a tank. Despite being more skilled in combat than him, even Keith struggled to pin him when they had wrestling matches. And Keith knew what to expect from Hunk! What could some scraggly little Altean like this guy do?

Before he could point out the lunacy of what he was suggesting, Mattew was rushing towards him. Once he was in range, Hunk swung out with one clean right hook on instinct, clipping him right in the side of the head and sending him right into the ground. His head bounced a bit and Hunk's feelers went straight upwards in concern. "Oh, man, sorry! Didn't mean to hit you quite that hard!" he squeaked, leaning over to examine the other, figuring he could offer a hand to help him up.

Instead, the Altean was out cold, prone on the ground.

"Great. Just great. Another problem I have to deal with," he whined quietly, picking the other up and chucking him over his shoulder. He was sure he had some cuffs somewhere on board, so he could bind the Altean up. He certainly couldn't leave him here, unconscious, where he'd be easy pickings for a hungry and lazy wild animal. But taking him back to town with his Commander was also out of the question. Without him it would take longer for the situation and those involved to be revealed, since he was an eye witness with as much information as Hira herself, and Hunk liked that idea. He'd take any extra wiggle room he could get!

He turned and headed on to the ship. He knew exactly where to go. There was one higher ranking Blade Commander who could help them sort this out. And, considering Keith had been his direct apprentice, it only seemed fair he fix a problem he helped to create.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shot didn't hit Katie straight on, but grazed her with enough force it sent her careening to the ground, barely managing to catch herself with her elbows. She knew if she went down she wouldn't be getting back up easily, and she also didn't want to hurt the little one tucked away against her back. She could hear the guards shouting as she pushed upright, glancing at where the child had poked their little snout out to look at her. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she breathed, trying to sound reassuring and ignoring the searing pain cropping up along the side of her head.

Their nose twitched before they gave what she could only call a scowl and poked their head out further, staring straight at the soldiers. Their arguing died off as one of the guards shouted, " _Oh quiznak_ , is that _Lemeru_?"

"Wha-! Oh, praise the spirits, it _is_!" Another shouted before reaching over and hitting the one that had shot Katie hard. "Gultat, you _idiot_! You could have hit Lemeru!”

“Ow-How was I supposed to know that she had Lemeru with her?” Gultat snapped back angrily.

“You _would have_ known if you weren’t so trigger happy! Bopud, send word ahead to the base. I trust you more than the brainless wonder, and we’re gonna need the meds on standby when we get her inside!” They ordered then darted over to Katie, reaching to take the child. “It’s okay now, Lemeru! We’ll get you back inside where it’s nice and safe!”

Lemeru, as the child was known, squirmed in their grasp, her tail patting at Katie. “Um, I think she’s saying we should bring her, too?” Bopud chimed in, peering up briefly from tapping something into the communications device he was holding.

Ahcom blinked before looking down at Lemeru. “Is that right?” they asked softly.

“I found her… Being chased by a serpent,” Katie wheezed, resting on her knees and reaching up to press a hand to the side of her head, hissing when the slightest bit of pressure caused immense pain and her vision to go spotty along the edges. The wound wasn’t deep, but it was surprisingly wide, which implied they were using modified guns that fired more lethal rounds. Her hand was covered in blood, which she wiped off on her cloak, before taking a steeling breath to compose herself. She needed to focus and maintain her composure until she was certain she was safe. “After that was taken care of we started on our way here. She told me this was her home.”

“She _told_ you?” Gultat asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed as he shifted the gun in his hold again.

“In her own way, _yes_ ,” Katie hissed at him before taking a breath and preparing herself to stand up. Her movements were slow and careful but she still wobbled slightly, one arm going to her stomach instinctively.

Ahcom reached out and offered her a hand with a shy smile. They then blinked as they took in her appearance, eyes widening. “Wait, that badge you’re wearing!” they gasped, tilting their head and leaning a little closer to get a better look at it.

“Could they be the informant the commanders are waiting on?” Bopud chimed.

“Seems doubtful. She would have just shown up at the base if that were the case,” Gultat quipped before sizing her up, his own gaze falling to where her hand was resting. “Um… You’re touching your stomach a lot there. Is, um… Is that because you’re… Uh… A-Are you…?”

“Pregnant? Quite,” she quipped flatly. She then glanced down at the confidante badge. “And in regards to why I have this… Well, it has to do with my current predicament.”

Ahcom glared over at Gultat and shook their head. They adjusted Lemeru in their arms, who had settled down now that hostilities had dissipated slightly. “First time our group gets sent out on patrol and you have to go shoot an _unarmed pregnant Altean woman,_ ” they grumbled before looking over at Bopud, who was still intently typing away at their communicator. Katie chose to keep the fact she had a dagger hidden on her person to herself. “Send word ahead about our additional patient, will you?”

“Already on it,” he mumbled back.

“I’m so so-!” Ahcom started to say but Katie shook her head to silence the other.

“I’m just gonna cut you off right there because, as much as an apology would be nice, I’m really not in a mood for talking. What I’d _really_ appreciate is getting inside and getting some treatment for _this_ ,” she said, pointing at the still-bleeding gunshot before shifting her cape to reveal her bandaged calf, “and the wounds I got fighting the serpent.”

Gultat suddenly jolted to attention. “Did it bite either of you?” he asked urgently.

She shook her head. “No, it used its scales to do this,” she said, a little relieved at how he visibly relaxed. She then looked over at Ahcom and Lemeru. “It cut - Lemeru, you called her? - on her foot badly enough that she can’t walk. I only had very basic medical provisions with me, but it should be enough to avoid either of us getting infections or long-lasting injuries.”

“Makes sense; even basic Altean meds are real effective,” Bopus hummed, stuffing his communicator back into his little pouch. He then approached and offered an arm to her, a small smile on his lips. “You’re still a little wobbly on your feet, so you can lean on me. Or, if you’re too tired, I can carry you back. It’s not a super long trip from here, but it might be a trek for someone in your condition.”

“I’ll take the support for now, but may request more the further we go,” she said, calmly looping her arm through his and letting him lead her along.

Gultat leaned closer into Ahcom. "She seems awful composed, don't you think?"

"Has panicking while being held at gunpoint _ever_ been beneficial? I mean, being calm didn't stop _you_ , but still," Ahcom retorted with a roll of their eyes.

Gultat huffed, glaring at them, but fell silent the rest of the trek. Ahcom moved up to walk beside Katie, due to Lemeru pointing at her quite adamantly. Once she was closer, Lemeru reached out with her tail and stroked her shoulder, trying to reassure her that things would be okay now. Katie smiled at them, grateful that the tot was on her side. About halfway to their base, though, Katie took up Bopud's offer of being carried. Her baby had started causing quite a ruckus and their little feet beating up against her insides, paired with the injuries she was sporting, left her feel more than a little worn down.

The second they stepped into the base they were greeted by a small team of medics, though, her heart leapt into her throat. There were three of them, two women and one who seemed to be an adolescent boy. The slightly taller of the women had orange-red tinted hair and sported traditional soldier garb, her yellow eyes widening in shock as she sized Katinra up. The other woman was blonde with bright purple eyes, knelt beside a wheelchair that she was seeming to be checking the wheels of, and the powdery blue and white of her outfit was more fitting of a proper medic. The young man was peering over her shoulder, his hair a red-brown tint and slicked back, and wore the same medical clothes of the blonde.

Their pointed ears and the marks high on the apples of their cheeks were all Katie could focus on, though. "Alteans," she breathed, hand instinctively going to when her dagger was stashed.

Bopud, seeming to think her shifting was cue to discomfort, carefully adjusted his grip on her. "That's gotta be a relief for you, huh? Being taken care of people who'll understand you and your baby's anatomy a little better, I mean," he said happily.

Gultat and Ahcom exchanged worried looks, though, as they observed the way she was watching the others. Ahcom stepped forward first, keeping Lemeru on one hip so she could wave with one hand. "Romelle, Bandor! Thanks for getting down here so quick!" she called, hurriedly shuffling over to them. Once she was close enough, she leaned closer to not risk being overheard. "This one we found out there… Does she seem familiar to any of you?"

Romelle, the young blonde, looked at her curiously before peering over. "If you mean from our line of work? I’m afraid I can’t say so, but that's most likely because Bandor and I are only familiar with those that come and go from here," she said. She then looked over at the other woman. "Luka? Does she look familiar to you?"

The other hummed. "Perhaps. But if she is who I think she is, this makes very little sense," she said with a small shake of her head.

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because she was reported dead several phoebs ago," she said before shifting to grab the handles of the chair and start pushing.

"Well _that_ explains some things," Ahcom mumbled.

Romelle hummed. "Anyway, Bandor will take you and Lemeru back to the medical ward. Luka and I will be along shortly," she said before moving past her and approaching Bopud and Katinra. A warm smile turned up on her lips as she dipped her head to the other. "It's a pleasure to meet you, though I am sorry for the circumstances. My name is Romelle, and this is Luka. We’ll escort you to the medical wing, where my brother, Bandor, and I will get both of you taken care of.” she explained, indicating the arm covering her stomach.

The other narrowed her eyes. “And how do I know I can trust you?” she growled.

“We could say the same of you,” Luka scoffed. She then flinched when Romelle cast a quick glare at her over her shoulders.

Romelle turned her attention back to her as Bopud carefully moved her into the chair. “Well, would you feel better if we answered any questions you have as we walked?” she offered.

“Within reason, of course. And there is the expectation that you will share information regarding yourself once we’ve gotten your wounds treated,” Luka cut in.

Katie looked between the two of them before leaning back a bit in the seat. “I suppose that seems fair,” she mumbled, moving to rest her feet in the small props. While she still wasn’t completely at ease, there was significantly less anxiety and adrenaline pumping through her than there’d been over her whole time on this planet.

“Excellent! Shall we get going then?” Romelle hummed. She then paused to look over at Gultat and Bopus. “Oh, and the higher operatives are in a meeting right now, but they have been informed of what is going on. They’ve requested you three head over to the conference room and await the adjournment of the meeting so they can speak to you about the specifics. Ahcom will join you two once we have Lemeru settled.”

Gultat groaned lowly. “Oh, great. We’re gonna get torn to shreds,” he whimpered.

Bopus reached out and gave his shoulder a small pat. “Aw, buddy, there is no ‘us’. There is only a ‘you’. Because _you’re_ the one that shot a pregnant woman and nearly shot two of the senior operatives’ daughter,” he chuckled as they started off past another set of doors, their bickering tapering off as the doors slid closed behind them. Romelle giggled and shook her head before she headed over to another door, putting in a code on the keypad to open it.

Luka pushed the chair along while Romelle led them.

“So, you’re working with the Galra,” Katinra said bluntly.

She nodded. “With an organization that works in opposition to the goals of Zarkon’s Empire called the Blade of Marmora, but they are composed of Galra, yes,”

“Wait, so… This is a Blade base?”

“You know of the Blade?” Luka asked, leaning over a bit to look at her curiously.

“Yeah. I… I’ve had a handful of… _fateful encounters_ with a member of their ranks, so to say,” she said, averting her gaze and clearing her throat. The other seemed confused before she looked over at the medic, who swooped an arm over her own abdomen meaningfully with flushed cheeks. “But that doesn’t explain why you are working with them.”

“Much like how there are those in the Galran Empire looking to exterminate the vermin doing more harm than good,” Luka mused as they turned down a set of double doors to another corridor, “there is a similar movement going on in Altea right now.”

She turned her head to get a better look at the other woman. “Wait, you mean there is an Altean Blade sanction working against Allura?”

“We use a seperate name, and are not looking to dethrone Her Majesty, but we have similar goals to the Blade of Marmora,”

Romelle stopped and held a door towards the end of the hallway open so that Luka could push her inside. “We belong to the Guns of Gamora and, much like the Blade, we have always existed. We have collaborated with the Blade often in the past, but never quite as much as of late. Certainly not to the point of operating obscure bases together, anyway,” she said. The area they were in was an infirmary, with four beds set up. They pulled the wheelchair over to one of the vacant beds and helped her sit up. “Okay, we’re going to just do a cursory glance over right now. I have some salve that’ll numb and disinfect the areas where you’re injured, and once that dries on we can let you have a wash before we get everything fully cleaned and tended to. It’ll give us a better idea of the extent of your injuries if we do it that way.”

“Wait, washed? As in a _bath_?” she asked, not even bothering to hide her excitement at the prospect. While she had a tendency to be lax with her bathing schedule when she was engrossed in a project or making huge strides with something, she hadn’t had a proper washing since the night before her exile. The idea of bathing in the watering pool she’d found seemed illogical, as she’d need to go during the day and would just get filthy with sweat walking to and from there and her ship, as well as impractically risky, since if she went at night there was the risk of predators.

“Well, we actually have only one bath that’s being used by Bandor right now, but we have several showering stalls. I mean, unless the idea of standing or walking that far is too much for you right now,” Romelle quickly clarified.

“Get me closed up and tell me where the showers are _now_ ,” she hissed, earning a bit of startled laughter from the two women. They didn't argue with her, though, as Romelle got to work. While she took care of that, Luka excused herself to get some toiletries and a spare set of clothes for Katie. By the time Romelle was done getting her underdressed and examined, Luka had returned with the goods.

They led her to one of the rooms off to the side, where a small hall of walled off showers stood, and let her know to holler if she needed any help.

Katinra spent as long as she could in the shower, relishing in the feel of hot water. She nearly wept in glee as she scrubbed all the dirt and blood from her hair. There were some tough tangles at the ends of her hair that she hoped she could work out with a combing. She used too much of the soaps and probably scrubbed way too hard, she was sure, but she was desperate to move without feeling twenty pounds of filth on herself.

Plus, the baby seemed to enjoy the warm water judging by their squirming, too.

Once she was finally done, she changed into the dress she'd been given. A part of her was grateful they'd gone the route of a dress, since it was a bit looser and breathed much better than her ill-fitted armor had come to towards the end. She took the time to brush her teeth and then made an attempt to comb her hair, but she couldn't get the tangles at the bottom out. She shuffled out of the bathroom and peered around to see if maybe Romelle or Luka would be kind enough to help.

She saw the two standing next to another bed, where Lemeru was seated. She looked like she’d been recently scrubbed and changed into fresher attire as well. In her little paw-like hands, she held a little bowl filled with nuts that she was gobbling up eagerly, while Bandor was tinkering with her collar. The little light on it was slowly blinking yellow, and the fourth spot that hadn’t done anything was empty. She noticed the piece in Bandor’s hands, where he was carefully mixing chemicals. "You'll just want to add another drop or two of this," Romelle said, handing him a small vial, "and then let it set for about five ticks. Then it'll be ready to lock back into place."

"We wouldn't need to do something so complicated if we had healing pods like the royals," Bandor sighed, doing as she instructed.

"It would be nice to have her fully healed instead of having to have the collar," Luka agreed.

"I could help you construct one," Katinra chimed up, causing all eyes to turn back to her. Lemeru perked up and bounced happily in her seat. She smiled and waggled her fingers at the child in return.

"You know how to?" Romelle asked in surprise.

She nodded as she walked closer. "I worked closely with the royal family and did plenty of research. We'd have to make some modifications, considering we don't have access to all the correct parts, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out," she said. She then meekly held up the hairbrush. "Also, um, I could use a little help. There are some stubborn knots I can't get out."

Romelle smiled and scampered over, gently moving her to sit on the edge of the bed from before. "I'll see what I can do. If I can't get them out, though, do you have any problem with me cutting it?"

"I want the knots gone one way or another,” she said with a decisive nod of her head.

“That’s all I needed to know,” Romelle mused as she finished settling in behind her and got to work. Katie bit her tongue to keep from complaining as the other started trying to tease out the snags, then glanced over at Luka expectantly.

The other nodded her head towards the door, clearly knowing what she was awaiting. “Lemeru’s parents are on their way down to meet you. Since they are the two head Blade operatives in charge of the base here, and I am the second Gamora agent in charge, we shall wait for them to discuss how you ended up here,” she explained evenly. After that, they were mostly quiet as they awaited.

In the end, there was no saving her hair. She had apparently gotten some kind of sap stuck in it during her time on the planet that could be used as an incredibly efficient adhesive. Romelle saved what little she could, but quite a bit of it had to be snipped off. While Romelle then started working on stitching up the wound from the shot, Katie observed herself in a small handheld mirror they’d given her. With this style of cut, she looked like Mattew back when he first began his apprenticeship as a knight. The thought made her heart skip a beat, remembering she’d never see her family again. Even if she did leave this place, she could never return to Altea, nor would her family want her back. She had to swallow down a lump at the realization that she was truly alone, relying on the conditional kindness of strangers.

But then there was another small kick against her side, and she smiled as she set her hand there. _That’s right_ , she thought. _We’ve had each other this far and we’ll still have each other going forward._

Just as Romelle finished taking care of all her injuries, the doors opened again as two Blade members walked in. One of them was quite a bit different from what she had been expecting. Unlike the traditional purple or blue hues of Galran pelts, theirs was a sandy brown color with small stripes of a dark blue color around their dark eyes and tracing up along their forehead and outlining the shape of their large, canine-like ears. They were just a little bit shorter than the other, and, while still clearly too strong for their own good, seemed to be a little less muscular as well. The one beside them was much more what was the traditional image of a Galra. They had the luminous purple fur, so thick along their head that the rounded tips of their ears could just barely be made out from the mass. They also had the luminous yellow eyes, but there were black diamond-shaped pupils as opposed to none like most, and a rough-looking scar along the bridge of their nose. Other than those, there was also an odd white strip in their fur along the top of their head that dipped further out than the rest, dipping a bit into their eyes.

"Sorry we're a bit later than expected. The meeting with the Gamoran Commanders went a bit over what we expected," said the larger of the pair.

Luka turned and greeted them with a quick bow. "Commander Adwru, Commander Takorn," she said softly.

The minute she spotted them, Lemeru was trying to clamor down from the bed. Bandor kept an arm looped around her, though, so she stayed put. "Ah, ah! Lemeru, you need to be careful with your leg still," he tutted gently.

"Her leg? What happened to her leg?" The smaller of the two was marching over in a second, his tail fluffed out into a furry mess aa he did. Once he was within reach, he took her from Bandor and cradled her in his arms carefully and near completely engulfing her, turning to look at the other, who had been fast on his heels. He reached out to her with one clawed hand, gently stroking her cheek with his knuckles.

Despite how comically small she was in comparison to them, Lemeru was eager to nuzzle into the pair of them, her tail swinging up to wrap around the larger's wrist. A deep chuckle came from him, expression becoming incredibly gentle. "You had an adventure out there, didn't you, pet?" he asked.

"An adventure is the _last_ way I would think to describe what happened, Takorn," Adwru, as Katie assumed him to be, quipped back flatly. He then looked down at Lemeru, his own expression softening as well. "I want to be angry with you, you know. I'm just much happier that you're home and safe."

Lemeru squirmed a bit until Adwru adjusted his hold on her so that she was sitting up a bit more properly. She started moving her little paws animatedly, expression shifting between this emotion and that, as she seemingly told the story of what had happened. "So those three were bickering again, and you snuck past them, hm?" Takorn asked.

"I told you that you should have been harsher when punishing them," he mumbled back before they returned to watching her continued pantomime. She moved her paws together in a sort of swaying motion, then covered her head with her arms. "You were chased by a _dasqu serpent_?" He lifted his head and glared at Takorn, tail fluffing back up, and tightened his grip on her the slightest bit.

Takorn himself looked mortified, casting a frantic glance to Bandor. "It didn't bite her. All it did was cut her foot open with its scales, so she might need a few days off of it to rest, but that's it," he explained.

"That won't be hard; she's going to be kept with one of us for quite some time," he agreed with a firm nod of his head before turning his attention back to her. She preened at his attention before continuing her story, making a shooting motion and stabbing motion, before pointing at Katinra.

It was the first time since they'd entered the room that they acknowledged her presence. She tensed before dipping her head meekly. "Um, hello," she said softly.

"You're the one who saved Lemeru?" Adwru asked in slight surprise.

She nodded. "Yes. My name Katinra, but you can call me Katie. I know Katinra is a bit of a mouthful,"

"Thank you so much for saving her, Katie," Adwru said, tilting his head down to gently nuzzle his cheek against Lemeru's. She leaned into him eagerly, little paws reaching up to hold his other cheek to keep him close by.

Takorn watched their exchange warmly before turning back to her. "Allow us to welcome you to stay here as long as you would like. Additionally, if your ship is nearby and in need of repairs, we can assist with that as well,” he offered.

“My ship is a lost cause, I’m afraid. My landing here was far from a gentle one,” she said.

“What do you mean by that?” Luka prompted.

With a deep inhale, Katie told them everything about the last two and a half deca-phoebs of her life, spare only the most personal of details. She told them about her romance with Keith, though she omitted his name for his safety, about how it led to her pregnancy, and even how he had initially responded. She told them about her confession to Allura and Hira, how it had been a desperate move made because she was backed in a corner, and how terribly that had ended. She told them about her exile, of Hira’s hope for her punishment, of how she’d been out in that desert for what she estimated to be almost two phoebs, give or take a movement or two. Throughout her whole story, the others had listened, expressions shifting between shock and horror where appropriate.

“Do you have any idea how far along you are now?” Romelle asked worried.

“Almost six phoebs, I think. I haven’t been able to track time as well as I would have liked, and I’m not sure how long I’ll need before the baby is ready to be born. I tried to do some reading on Altean-Galran offspring before, but there was nothing,” she admitted.

“I’ll reach out to a few associates of mine and see what I can find,” Takorn stated before looking over at Romelle and Bandor. “For now, I want you two to get her on fluids, nutrient drips and anything else she was lacking out there. I want to assure her child is born as healthy as possible.”

“I’ve been feeling movement, so I know they’re alive and active,” Katie supplied, looking back down and gently placing her hand where she felt the activity the most.

“We’ll get that started up for you, like Commander Takorn said, but we still need some of the other equipment to be repaired. Specifically the ultrasound machine,” Bandor commented.

Adwru’s ears twitched. “Hintruf _still_ hasn’t been down here to fix it yet? It’s been _at least_ two movements!” he seethed.

Luka smirked a bit. “Just warn him that he won’t have a job soon enough. Katie here thinks she can help us whip up a fancy cryopod like the ones the royals use,” she said smugly. Katie got the feeling that whoever this Hintruf was, Luka was not a fan.

“We can talk about that once you and your child have had some proper rest and treatment,” Takorn agreed, stepping a bit closer to gently take one of Katie’s hands in his. He dipped to one knee and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, eyes closed. She remembered that Keith had told her what this gesture meant; a vow of loyalty, typically exchanged between generals and the soldiers directly under them. “When I say we are grateful to you for saving Lemeru, I mean it with my whole being. So long as you want to stay here, I will personally see to it that you are treated with the dignity and respect you deserve.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but found herself unable to make the words come out. Relief washed through her at his reassurance, of knowing she would have some kind of support when her baby came. She had promised herself and her baby, back when they landed, that they would survive. Despite everything, all the struggles and fear and pain she’d suffered, it had all paid off. She had succeeded. She and her baby were going to be safe, and the realization of that lifted such a weight from her she couldn’t breath for a beat. She composed herself after a moment and nodded. “I… Thank you, Commander Takorn,” she choked out.

He offered her a small smile before he and Adwru headed out, Lemeru perking up over his shoulder to wave as they left. Romelle set a hand on Katie’s shoulder and gave a small squeeze. “Go ahead and get yourself comfortable on the bed. We’ll get you all set up in a jiffy and then you can enjoy some long-deserved rest,” she said warmly.

Out in the hallway, Commander Takorn pulled out his small holoscreen and began typing away. "Already seeing to getting the ultrasound machine fixed?" Adwru asked, peering over his mate's shoulder. The other shrugged in response, scrolling through a listed log of operative activities. "Or not. What are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything," he mumbled back.

"I call nonsense," he scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "I've been by your side as a fellow Blade and your mate too long to not know you better than that. Now what are you planning?" he repeated. The other glanced at him before looking away with a scowl. He reached up and gently cupped the other's face, tilting his head to look at him proper. "Love, please. Whatever you have rattling around in your head, just tell me so I can help you."

He leaned into his hand and chuckled a bit at the pet name. He was always soft for those. "Ah, so you'll be my accomplice? Even if I'm doing something particularly awful?"

"Well, _someone_ has to cover up your tracks," he snorted.

"I want to find out who the father of Katie's child is," he said.

Adwru tilted his head curiously. "You could just ask her out right, you know. She's been very agreeable thus far,"

"But she omitted his name in her explanation, which might make sense. She knew about the Blade, but her knowledge was very limited. She may not be aware that Blade operatives use fake names while on assignment and is trying to protect him from backlash. Or, she doesn't know his real name at all, and doesn't think we'd recognize an alias," he said.

"Or she's withholding it because she thinks he wants nothing to do with the child, given how he reacted at first,"

"Well, he's not going to _get_ a choice in the matter. To think he'd leave her alone, for all this time… I _won't_ stand for it. No Blade member under our eyes will behave as such," he growled lowly, before looking down at Lemeru, who was watching them curiously. He reached to take her. "While you're sending for Hintruf to fix the machine, can you check the frequency of male Blade members leaving their posts for trivial reasons?"

"You think that another Blade knew about this?" Adwru asked.

"It's the only plausible explanation, given the amount of time that passed prior to her becoming pregnant," he pointed out, adjusting Lemeru to sit on his left shoulder. She happily started to play with his unruly mane, little paws starting to make little braids. "I may also be having some words with those three about some necessary adjustments to their punishment."

"Ah, and we all know what a kick Ruru gets out of watching Daddy yell at the rookies, don't we?" he teased, reaching over to press a quick peck to the little girl's cheek. She grabbed his cheeks and held him in place so she could smooch the bridge of his nose in exchange. He beamed before exchanging a quick kiss with Takorn. "I'll let you know if I find anything of note. Go give those rookies a good lashing, Shiro."

"Don't I always?" he hummed, lingering to swipe another quick kiss before heading off to get to business.


End file.
